Jose Cifuentes quietly departed Canada following the end of his loan spell with Toronto FC at the end of June, but the Ecuador international remains firmly on the fringes of Rangers' plans.
The midfielder's temporary stay in MLS came to an end at the turn of the month and, after returning from North America, he has been granted additional time off before reporting back for pre-season.
However, there has been no change to his situation at Ibrox.
Derek McInnes is not expected to reintegrate Cifuentes into his first-team squad as Rangers continue working towards finding a permanent solution for the 27-year-old, who has just one year remaining on his contract.
The former LAFC midfielder has not featured for Rangers since December 2023 and has spent the past 18 months out on loan, first at Cruzeiro, then Aris Thessaloniki and most recently Toronto FC.
Rather than paying up the remainder of his contract, Rangers are understood to favour either a permanent transfer or another loan agreement that would remove his wages from the club's books. However, a mutual agreement is still a consideration should no move be secured this window.
With McInnes reshaping his squad this summer, Cifuentes finds himself even further down the midfield pecking order.
New arrivals Cammy Devlin and Dan Neil have strengthened the engine room, while Mohamed Diomande, Nicolas Raskin, Connor Barron, Tochi Chukwuani, Nedim Bajrami, Thelo Aasgaard and returning loanee Lyall Cameron all provide central midfield options.
Barron, Raskin, Aasgaard and Barron have all been linked with moves away this window but Rangers are not expected to allow more than two to depart.
Highly rated youngster Paul Nsio also enhanced his credentials during a productive loan spell at Raith Rovers last season and is pushing to feature around the first-team environment.
Rangers have also been linked with further midfield additions, including Lewis Ferguson and Jens Hjerto-Dahl, underlining McInnes' desire to continue refreshing the squad.
Should another central midfielder arrive, opportunities for Cifuentes would become even more limited.
With his contract entering its final 12 months, this transfer window represents Rangers' last opportunity to recover some value from a player who arrived from LAFC with high expectations but has struggled to establish himself in Glasgow.
Unless there is a dramatic change in circumstances before the end of the summer, Cifuentes' Rangers career appears destined to conclude without adding to his appearances for the club.
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