Rangers playmaker Carlos Pena left Ibrox in January to reunite with Pedro Caixinha at Cruz Azul.

You would be forgiven for thinking Carlos Pena may rediscover his form back in his home country of Mexico with former Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha, after he joined Liga MX side Cruz Azul on loan.

The 27-year-old rejoined Caixinha after the disgraced Rangers manager was given the job just over two months ago in early December, and is set to remain with the Mexican giants until January 2019.

The 19-time Mexico international has huge experience in the top flight, but he has failed to show any kind of indication that he is to return to his best since moving in early January.

In fact, Pena has failed to start a single match for Cruz Azul since returning, making just five substitute appearances and clocking up a total of only 126 minutes in that time.

He has failed to boost Caixinha’s under-fire side, who have won just once in the five games Pena has played in, suffering two losses to Atlas and Puebla. The side have now plummeted into the bottom half of the 18-club division.

The Daily Record claim Pena cost Rangers a huge £2.6million but he is hardly showing even half of that value as Azul continue to struggle to keep pace with the rest of the league despite pre-season expectations of a title challenge.

He has plenty of time left to prove his worth at Azul, but Pena must certainly up his game sooner rather than later if he is to succeed under Caixinha. A ticket on the place to Russia this summer is at stake.

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