Sevco have been told to forget all about making a move for Bruno Alves.
The Cagliari defender was enthusiastically linked with a move to Ibrox but the cruel reality is that just because the player in question is Portuguese he has no interest in working with the fifth best coach in Qatar.
Alves has a year left on his Cagliari contract but won’t be heading to Murray Park anytime soon.
According to The News of Sardinia: “The Rangers have asked the prosecutor’s Portuguese defender if there is scope for a transfer in the Scottish Premier League. Alves, though, does not seem willing to leave Sardinia and probably will decline the invitation.”
Having told Pip Senderos and Clint Hill that they won’t be offered new contracts finding a central defender or two will be a priority for Brother Pedro.
Danny Wilson, Rob Kiernan and David Bates are unlikely to be part of a title challenging defence but the prospects of signing the 89 times capped Alves are remote.
Caixinha has the same sort of profile in Portugal that Micky Mellon (manager of Tranmere Rovers) has in Scotland.
Having worked in Qatar and Mexico the new Sevco boss will find it difficult to bring in players from those countries due to work permit regulations.
In Portugal Caixinha can call upon his agent Pedro Mendes to be able to come up with a stream of prospective signings but it’s a little unethical for a manager to be sanctioning the signing of players from his own agent even if it’s unlikely to involve the sort of commissions that Mino Raiola picked up on the Paul Pogba transfer.