It is fair to say that the prediction from Michael Beale hasn’t exactly stood the test of time. Some 18 months on, Jose Cifuentes is actually taking a team to another level. It is not, and never will be, Rangers that are benefiting from Beale’s words or the midfielder’s actions.

The former Ibrox boss had grand plans for Cifuentes. The Ecuadorian was the last deal that Beale completed of the summer window and his Ibrox rebuild but Cifuentes never looked like being the final piece of the jigsaw. He arrived with fanfare but departed having made no lasting impression in Glasgow.

A loan to Cruzerio got some wages off the bottom line in January after Philippe Clement made it clear that Cifuentes was not what he was looking for. Just a year after his move from Los Angeles, Cifuentes signed for a third different club ahead of this term as he put pen-to-paper with Greek outfit Aris Thessaloniki. He is gone and largely forgotten in Glasgow.

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It is somewhat ironic, then, that Cifuentes is now enjoying the sort of success he would have foreseen for himself when he first moved across the Atlantic. He is a regular and impressive performer for a side that sits top of the division. The financial loss for Rangers has been a football gain for Aris and the unlikely story of the Super League lead the way ahead of an illustrious chasing pack after the first phase of the campaign.

“He was certainly one of their biggest signings of the summer, alongside Monchu and Robin Quaison,” Alec McQuarrie, a freelance journalist and Greek football expert told the Rangers Review. “It’s safe to say that he has made a massive impact, but he needed to. Central midfield was one of Aris’ problem positions last season, and the departures of Verstraete and Durasek left significant holes to fill.

“No one expected Aris to challenge for the top four this year. The status quo is that Aris are Greece’s fifth biggest team by some distance in either direction and given the top four splits away after 26 matchdays, Aris were thought some way off Panathinaikos, PAOK, AEK and Olympiacos. Cifuentes and Monchu have been the major differences from last year’s unspectacular squad. It certainly helps that Loren Moron continues to do his best prime Marco van Basten impression, though.”

The partnership with Monchu, a former academy graduate at Barcelona and an established operator in La Liga, has been integral to Aris' achievements to date. The pair are the double pivotal for boss Akis Mantzios and McQuarrie believes their influence off the ball is even more significant than what they do on it, especially against the dominant possession style of the big four in Greece.

Olympiacos and PAOK were beaten at home and away respectively in September, while Cifuentes again played the full 90 minutes during the draw at Panathinaikos last month. His debut off the bench against Atromitos is the only league fixture he has not started.

Cifuentes has shown his ability with the ball at his feet to feed those in the two lines of attack ahead of him. Yet it is the distance that he covers and the recoveries and interceptions that he makes that have stood out. Rather than asking him to be an enforcer and a creator, Mantzios has kept his role simple and defined and the 25-year-old is thriving as a result.

“Their manager likes to play good football,” Stephen Kountourou of the Hellas Footy podcast on Greek football told the Rangers Review. “Akis Mantzios is one of the better Greek coaches, and there's very much a lack of good Greek coaches, not only in the Super League, but in the rest of the footballing world as well.

“He likes to play attacking football with his Aris teams. It's not one of those kind of lower end teams that will park the bus, play 10 men behind the ball against the better opposition. They've taken games to some very good teams and come out with very good results.

"He’s been part of keeping that defensive line ahead of the centre-backs and the back four, and he's been very good at that. He's managed to keep out some very good attacking players that are in the Super League currently. They've been one of the most consistent teams this season.”

Aris are one of three teams that have collected 21 points from their first 11 league outings. They sit alongside AEK and Olympiacos and both PAOK and Panathinaikos are within striking distance ahead of the return to action next weekend.

Kountourou believes the ‘sky is the limit’ for an Aris side that are very much a surprise package this term. The same can be said of Cifuentes, who the writer and broadcaster believes has proven himself to be a shrewd acquisition. Supporters of the Kitrinomavroi were aware of Cifuentes given that he came from a club with such a pedigree on the continent but few knew what to expect given that he had failed to enhance the reputation that he earned at the Under-20 World Cup in 2019 as Ecuador finished third.

(Image: PA)

That impact on the international stage played a part in the move to Rangers. The pursuit was prolonged during a period where there was notes of interest from several European clubs and a fee of around £1.2million - with agents fees topping up the bill by six figures - was agreed with LAFC after several encouraging showings in Major League Soccer. 

Cifuentes signed a pre-contract to ensure he would be a Rangers player by December at the latest and negotiations with LAFC were stepped up as all the paperwork was put in place and medical tests were completed Stateside. The deal was one of the more complex agreements of the summer, mainly due to the number of stakeholders involved and Rangers had to negotiate with the MLS and LAFC as well as Cifuentes and his agents, who were fielding calls from a range of clubs for a player that his American employers once rated around the $10m bracket. The belief that Rangers would benefit on and off the field from Cifuentes never looked like materialising.

“I don’t think there was any doubt over Cifuentes’ quality when Aris signed him, despite his struggles at Rangers,” McQuarrie said. “The major doubt was whether his application and attitude could match it. There have been far too many players arriving in Greece with bombastic reputations, expecting to breeze through matches.

“Players like James Rodriguez and Marcelo at Olympiacos, Andre Gray at Aris, etc. have all been found wanting in terms of work ethic. It’s been the exact opposite with Cifuentes, who has run himself into the ground for his new club.”

The first weeks and months of Cifuentes’ time at Ibrox could scarcely have been more different. Few standout appearances will come to the mind of supporters, and many will be surprised to learn that he played as often as he did, relatively speaking, as minutes were collated in Europe especially, including in the two wins over Real Betis and the Champions League occasions against Servette and PSV Eindhoven.

A berth against Livingston gave the midfielder his Premiership debut but just five more starts would follow. Philippe Clement defended him after his controversial red card at home to Dundee but there was never a sense that the Belgian would build his midfield around Cifuentes.

On his exit in January, the Ecuadorian spoke about the lack of sunshine in Scotland and why he rejected offers from Russia, Turkey and the Championship. He has joined a sizeable Spanish-speaking contingent at Aris and being settled off the pitch has helped Cifuentes – who was nominated for player of the month in his first weeks at the club – to make an immediate impression.

“He's been a really, really solid pickup for Aris, who are still top of the table despite losing on the weekend before the international break,” Kountourou said. “But he's been part of a really impressive side and a side we didn't expect to kind of be where they are right now.

“I think you can make a lot of comparisons with Greece and with Scotland. Greece perhaps maybe have more teams pushing for the title normally than Scotland, with it normally just being Rangers and Celtic. But normally, the last couple of years, it's been Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, PAOK, AEK, all going for the title. Now Aris, who are apparently the fifth biggest club in Greek football, are challenging.

“And he's part of that team. It's no mean feat to be performing the way he is, in a very good Aris side. They’ve already played three of the big four and come away with almost all positive results. So, you can't really ask for more from him.”

It is a case of so far so good for Cifuentes and for Aris. The visit of Volos NPS will give the league leaders a chance to bounce back from the defeat to Panetolikos last time out before the trip to AEK the following weekend that will be another test of their title credentials.

A Super League success was not the goal that Cifuentes had in mind when he took the next step in his career and headed for Europe last summer. It is the ambition that could give him his finest achievement in the game so far, though.

“I think everyone secretly thinks that Aris will fall away as the season progresses, given that the top four have really not sparked into life just yet,” McQuarrie said. “For the first time in eight years, each of the big five failed to win on the same matchday, at the end of October.

"But Aris’ results and performances against the rest of the big five have been completely unexpected and beating Olympiacos at home and then winning at bitter rivals PAOK in the space of eight days was a ludicrous achievement.

“If they can keep up their form against the bigger sides and avoid slip ups like losing to Panetolikos they could well challenge for the European places. It would be the biggest shock since the late 80s if they went on to win it. You have to go back to 1946 for their last title.”

Kountourou shares the view that a Super League win remains unlikely for Aris as it stands but a place in European competition next term is certainly not out of the equation. Aris have the first dibs on Cifuentes next summer after agreeing an option to buy on the deal that took him to Thessaloniki in the first place.

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The midfielder may well come to the attention of other interested parties. In all likelihood, Cifu has kicked his last ball for Rangers. It is Mantzios who will benefit from Beale’s prophecy.

“Very possibly,” McQuarrie said when asked if he expected Aris to take up their clause on Cifuentes next summer. “It can’t be understated how important achieving European football is to Greek clubs’ finances. Getting into the league phase of the Champions League would completely eclipse all revenue streams by some distance and is heavily relied upon during the transfer window.

“Aris’ financial situation is healthy, but nowhere close to that of the big four. If they can secure European football in some capacity, and crucially make it through the play-offs, Cifuentes would most likely be the top of their shopping list. I mean, he’s keeping former Hertha Berlin midfielder Vladimir Darida out of the team. They can surely sacrifice his not insignificant wages to make room for their new midfield enforcer.”