View: Ex-Rangers defender repeating Ibrox consistency issue in South America

Jefte left Rangers on a permanent transfer to Palmeiras last summer, but the defender has taken his consistency problem from Ibrox back to Brazil.

Signed by Rangers in the summer of 2024 from Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia, Jefte arrived in Glasgow to much excitement.

Penning a four-year deal at Ibrox, the full-back was just 20-years old at the time of his Gers move, and was a product of Fluminense’s renowned academy system.

He’d also joined off the back of playing over 30 times for APOEL Nicosia in 2023-24, which included a run out in the UEFA Conference League, and so his potential was evident for all to see.

Unfortunately though, Jefte suffered from an inconsistent 2024-25 season with Rangers, and that was enough for Ibrox chiefs to feel comfortable commissioning a permanent transfer exit last August.

How has Jefte been performing for Palmeiras since Rangers exit?

Rangers reportedly banked £6.5million for Jefte from Palmeiras in this season’s summer window, which marked a significant profit on his reported £600,000 transfer fee that Gers are understood to have signed him for.

Therefore, turning around that sort of profit in the space of one up and down season was perhaps a bit of a no-brainer for Rangers, but that didn’t mean every Gers fan was on board with it.

Indeed, such is the clear potential and ability Jefte possesses, there was a fair share of supporters who would’ve preferred the Club to have turned down that offer, in the hope he would keep improving in Glasgow.

However, he’s now turned out for Palmeiras 19 times across both the second half of their 2025 season, and the first few weeks of the current 2026 campaign, and those same consistency issues seen at Rangers have followed him to Brazil.

Jefte made 12 Brazilian Serie A appearances in 2025, and as per Sofascore, he won 63 per cent of his aerial duels, posted a dribble success rate of 59 per cent and played 0.9 key passes per game.

However, in his three league outings so far in 2026, Jefte has won just 25 per cent of his aerial duels, completed 50 per cent of his dribbles and played only 0.3 key passes per game respectively.

On the flip side, 2026 has seen him win 67 per cent of his ground duels compared to 51 per cent in 2025, and he’s also lost possession just 5.3 times per game compared to 7.1 times last year.

Therefore, you can see how the 22-year-old is once again shining and improving in some aspects, but seemingly underperforming and regressing in others.

Rangers will be happier with Tuur Rommens over Jefte

So, whilst there still is the chance for Rangers to come to regret selling Jefte, that won’t currently be the feeling in Glasgow.

That will largely be down to the arrival of Tuur Rommens in January, with the Belgian left-back enjoying an excellent start to life at Ibrox.

Only 23 himself, Rommens has been considerably more consistent than Jefte was, and looks to have sorted out the future of the left-back spot for Gers moving forward.

Therefore, whilst there might be an argument to say that Jefte has the higher ceiling, Rommens certainly appears to have the higher floor, and should only keep improving too.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.