Did ex-Rangers star help Chinese giants bid for Morelos?

As Rangers fans know, the winter window came and went without losing any prize assets aside Danny Wilson. The big ramification is that, following the Chinese window’s closure as well, Rangers retained the services of star striker Alfredo Morelos after Beijing Renhe made several multi-million pound bids to persuade the Ibrox board to part with him.

These were all rejected and China’s Super League February 28th deadline went without the sale taking place.

However, just what alerted Renhe to Morelos’ form? As much as the SPL is higher profile than the Finnish top flight, it does not get the exposure the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga or even the English Championship does.

Ibrox Noise went digging, and we realised our ex-striker Nikica Jelavic plied his trade in Beijing for one year between February 2016 and 2017, before switching out on loan to Guizhou Zhicheng after which that deal became permanent last December.

But the Croat’s form in China had been excellent, and by swapping team, he was certainly taking goals from Renhe which are hard to replace.

Step forward one Alfredo Morelos! We know for a fact our ex-players keep tabs on our current fortunes, with indeed many of them becoming firm life follow followers of our famous club. Jelavic would have been well aware of Morelos.

Is it feasible Jelavic scouted the Colombian out for Renhe (at this point, still his employer) before he left for pastures new to help them replace him in the event of his own departure later that year? Quite feasibly he did exactly what Jonatan Johansson did with the same player.

The Croat may have felt Rangers could use the money, and Renhe the player to make his own departure easier, and for him it was all a win win?

Of course, this is entirely conjecture, and we claim no fact beyond circumstantial evidence, but it is more than a touch coincidental that Renhe started bidding on Morelos only one month after Jelavic’s departure to Zhicheng was made permanent.

Either way, Rangers held onto their man, Jelavic got his move, and Morelos now must wait till the summer before getting the move he really wants, which is to England.

And that is fine by us.