Nils Koppen is eyeing something of a Latin revolution at Rangers with Damian Garcia one of the most talked about Ibrox targets.\
With links to the 20-year-old Uruguayan midfielder popping up last week, the situation with the Peñarol star continues to make headlines.
Between contract disputes and the Uruguay U20 World Cup winner scoring his first professional goal, there is a sense of excitement building around an Ibrox deal.
But amid reports that Damian Garcia would be remaining with Peñarol until December, some cold water has been poured on that initial buzz.
Now, things have taken a fresh twist.
It appears that Rangers director of recruitment Nils Koppen may well have got in front of the Uruguayan club’s president this week.
Rangers & Peñarol chiefs at transfer summit
Nacho Ruglio made headlines when the Uruguayan president told reporters that ‘Peñarol does not need to sell’ Damian Garcia.
Whilst acknowledging that the club might indeed strike a deal that would see the midfielder leave in December, news of Ruglio’s presence at a special conference in Mexico will turn heads.
Ex-PSV recruitment guru Nils Koppen is a well-connected man in transfer circles and it’s why Rangers brought the Belgian to the club at the turn of the year.
This week, the head of the Rangers recruitment board travelled to Cancun in Mexico for the latest TransferRoom summit.
And in a startling transfer coincidence, the event is also being attended by the Peñarol chief.
At least that’s according to Uruguayan publication Montevideo, who confirm that Ignacio Ruglio is in Mexico taking part in the summit.
Rangers could face Garcia competition
Expanding on those earlier reports, the Montevideo article also directly quotes Nacho Ruglio with regards Damian Garcia.
And in describing the TransferRoom conference, the Peñarol chief will only add fuel to the fire when it comes to Rangers and the talented midfielder.
That’s even if the Ibrox side potentially face competition from over 35 different clubs from across the globe.
“The clubs make an appointment with whoever they are interested in and every 15 minutes there is a meeting,” explains Ruglio.
“They serve to see how they view you from other sides and which Peñarol players they have viewed.
“At the time we signed up, the next day there were 36 meetings requested from clubs around the world. All of them yesterday were very good and today we have more.
When asked specifically about Damian Garcia and the other out of contract players at the club, Ruglio responded: “The club does not need to sell. The size of the offer does not matter, the priority from now on is sports.”
Defensive midfielder Damian Garcia came through the youth ranks at Peñarol and has gone on to make 45 appearances for the Uruguayan club.