Rangers' hopes of getting a £4 million windfall for forgotten midfielder Jose Cifuentes have been dented after Greek side Aris abandoned negotiations to turn his loan move into a permanent deal.
The Ecuadorian player is on loan with Thessaloniki outfit and the club initially agreed on a deal where they had the option to sign Cifuentes at any time for the fee.
They held talks with Rangers in November to plead with the Ibrox club to lower the price of a permanent deal.
However, Aris have since sacked manager Akis Mantzios and replaced him with Marinos Ouzounidis, who doesn't appear to hold Cifuentes in the same regard.
His cause wasn't helped when he turned up for training late last month and was fined.
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And reports in Greece have indicated Aris have abandoned any plans to sign Cifuentes permanently and will allow him to return to Glasgow at the end of the season.
Cifuentes has make 11 starts for Aris, but has played only once since the start of December with injury and a loss of form hampering his progress.
He first exited Rangers in February on loan to Cruzeiro, but he managed to make just three starts in Brazil's Seria A and was bombed out of the first team.
Cifuentes made just six league starts for the Rangers after arriving from Los Angeles FC in a £1.2 million deal, which will still have two years to run on his return.
