Why Rangers are doing the right thing by offloading Carlos Pena
According to a report from the Scottish Sun, Mexican midfielder Carlos Pena is set to return to Rangers following two failed loan spells in his homeland.
Carlos Pena, 28, signed for Rangers in the summer of 2017 and spent just half a season in Scotland before returning to his homeland on loan. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Cruz Azul in Mexico under Pedro Caixinha but failed to impress the former Rangers manager. After his unsuccessful loan spell with Cruz Azul, he joined another Mexican outfit in Necaxa, but Pena has again failed to hit the ground running.
The Mexican midfielder was supposed to be at Necaxa until January but following his poor performances, the club decided to cut their losses and cancel his loan deal two months ahead of schedule. Carlos Pena faces an uncertain future at Ibrox after his loan spell at Necaxa was cut short. He is due back at Rangers, but cannot feature for the club until January.
Mexican side Leon were linked with Pena not so long ago but they are not interested in the midfielder anymore. He enjoyed the best spell of his career with Leon, scoring 42 goals in more than 150 games for the club across two spells before Rangers snapped him up in 2017.
Now that Rangers are keen to offload Pena off their books, are they doing the right thing?
The answer is yes. Pena still has 18 months left on his deal at Ibrox but he doesn’t appear to fit Steven Gerrard’s style of play at the club. Gerrard has brought in a high-octane, free-flow style of football since taking over the reins at the Ibrox earlier this season.
The Mexican clearly doesn’t fit Gerrard’s style and as the Gers have a wide range of options in the midfield, Pena doesn’t stand a chance of getting anywhere near the playing XI. Despite being talented, the 28-year-old struggled to adapt at Rangers and now, Gerrard cannot afford to keep him in his team.
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However, if Pena works hard and gets himself back to shape with different training regimes, he might have a chance to resurrect his career at Ibrox under Gerrard. But for now, Rangers are right in their decision to offload him as quickly as possible.