Rangers have pulled out of the race to sign defender Jose Cordoba.

The Rangers Review revealed that the Panamanian had emerged as a key target for boss Philippe Clement as he looks to strengthen his centre-back options ahead of the new campaign. Cordoba was in Glasgow for the Premiership fixture with Kilmarnock and was given a tour of Ibrox as Rangers looked to put a deal together. 

But the Rangers Review can now reveal that Cordoba - who has also been linked with Norwich City - won’t be making the move to Scotland just days after saying his farewells to Levski Sofia. Clement has now turned his attentions to other targets as he gears up for a significant overhaul of the squad in the coming weeks. 

Clement has already completed a switch for Brazilian left-back Jefte and is keen to bring former Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly back to Ibrox. Defender Leon Balogun is also poised to put pen-to-paper on a new contract to extend his stay for another season. 

READ MORE: Check all the Rangers transfer news & rumours before the transfer window

Clement will lose the likes of Borna Barisic and John Lundstram, both of whom are set to sign for Trabzonspor, and striker Kemar Roofe when their contracts at Ibrox end.

Clement addressed the scale of his task over the summer break after seeing his side end the campaign with a defeat to Celtic in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday. 

“It is a massive challenge because there is not much time,” Clement said. “That is the reality. You have qualifying games for Champions League in August, you have five league game also so that is nine games in four weeks. You need to rebuild the squad. We have several players out of contract who will leave the building so you need to replace them without money coming inside.

"That is also one thing. We need to be really inventive in our transfers and doing the smart things. It is going to be really challenging but we are busy already with that for months within the club. You see already that we bring in Jefte yesterday, who is a young player, talented. They will need also their time to adapt. How long? That is always difficult to predict. Some players they adapt really fast, some players need more time but we are working hard to get more quality in the building.”