The future of Alfredo Morelos has been one of the most intriguing stories to surround the club in recent times.
The 21-year old Colombian hitman set the SPL ablaze for a period last season, and while his scoring was patchy and inconsistent (we can’t forget a 10-match dry spell) it was nevertheless still enough to put him as the league’s top scorer.
However, the events of January undeniably unsettled him – an alleged £11M bid for Chinese giants Beijing Renhe was rejected by the club and despite Morelos subsequently signing a year extension to his deal, his verbals about aiming to play in England and failure to ever commit his future to Rangers in words suggested he was vulnerable and, to quote his last two managers, may have had his head turned.
His new manager Steven Gerrard has said the right things – he has stated Rangers and the fans love the player, and want to keep him – but he admitted the lad may be looking elsewhere but suggested only Morelos himself knew that.
Either way, as the manager should, he confirmed he wants to keep the former HJK man.
And frankly, this is a stance Ibrox Noise agrees with – if Morelos himself actually wanted to stay. The problem is his lack of ever making any statement of commitment to the club in the face of all this interest.
If we look at the player’s actual attributes, he has a lot to offer. He is very much a one-man up top job, a stocky powerhouse capable of causing defences all manner of nuisance. He wins a tonne of fouls, and he has enough strength to outmuscle the majority of defenders he faces.
When he plays deeper he is also one hell of a team player – he holds the ball up, creates a load of space by dragging defenders away from the middle, and brings his team mates in. He works his socks off to make their lives easier.
However, the downside is when he ends up in the box himself, he often forgets they exist and the game becomes all about him. He becomes greedy, selfish, and extremely wasteful. He has also choked on a number of occasions against Celtic.
There is also the question of his attitude on the pitch – he is frequently seen with a greetin’ face just like Barry Ferguson all those years ago, looking frustrated, petulant and managing to get himself in trouble a lot.
However, he is young, and if the negative aspect of his game can be weeded out, he is a compact, robust and reliable striker – but he also needs to work on being clinical.
At the end of the day though, it is about his ambition. He has made it clear he sees his future as playing in England. He would evidently even be happy with the Championship given he didn’t specify the top flight, but the truth is we don’t blame him for wanting the promised land of the game south of the border.
We do, however, blame him for having repeatedly stressed it in past interviews.
He’s stopped saying that stuff now, and we know there’s interest in him from Turkey and the Chinese Super League, not to mention English clubs, but unless they bid what Rangers want he will stay.
As long as he is truly happy with that and staying at Scotland’s biggest and most successful club where he could become a legend, it gets our endorsement. He looked more than happy at training, and seems in good form in terms of spirit of late.
We want a happy Alfredo Morelos at our club. But he has to truly be content with Rangers, and being idolised by 51,000 people.
After all, who wouldn’t be?
He'll go as soon as a prem team comes in. Probably Southampton. But hopefully that means his goals have won us the league and kept us in Europe beyond xmas. I expect him to bust a nut for Gerrard, he'll know Gerrard will have great contacts down south and more interest from England in Rangers games as well
Perhaps that is exactly what he wants Ibrox Noise – to be idolised by 51,000 fans not constantly criticised for every miss, every facial expressiontreated as a betrayal. Name a player who doesn’t want to play in the super rich playground of the English league. I am amongst those supporters who think that if we are offered upwards of 10 million for Morelos then we should take it. Meantime however if Morelos was given half the love showered on a frankly largely ineffectual Jason Cummings (not least by Ibrox Noise) then Morelos might just take his goal tally into the high twenties in the coming season and further increase that transfer value.
Love that comparison with Cummings – absolutely bang on pal.
nail head bang!!
Reliable strikers don't regularly miss sitters.
Everything else is spot on.
He's only 21. I could be wrong, but from memory we've had the likes of Prso, Averladze, Mols all in their prime and had a worse or similar goal to game ratio as Morelos. Granted Mols wasn't the same after his injury. But my point stands, he's a 21yr old who.is only going to improve and is scoring about the same or more than previous players from a better team. Let the boy develop, that's our model until just now
aye they dae, u remember a guy named mcoist,
Money talks. Almost everyone would move job for twice the salary even if you loved your job and company. Also many players still give 100% even if they are playing for a club that’s is not their first choice. Think of players playing in Scotland who don’t play for us but wish they did. Still give 100% against us. If we get £9m for him take it.
Lets see what happens under the new boss, I like him he's a grafter and scores goals,and he's only 21 maybe stevie can sort out his attitude and I don't think we are in position to discard a player with the potential to generate a big transfer fee in a few years time.
Exactly. We've paid more for "better" forwards in their prime who have failed to score as many as Morelos
I will be gutted if we swap Morelos for Cummings!The fact we are looking for £9-£10 million for Morelos and trying to get Cummings for £600,000-£1million says it all really.
Morelos is a good prospect well spotted by JJ . He has come a fair way already since his time here at Ibrox . He is young and can be petulant but he is strong and knows how to score. I think Steven Gerrard will take some time with this lad to try and get him where he needs to be to help fulfil his dreams and more importantly win games for Rangers and the League . However money talks and if the right deal comes in then he will be sold as will Josh Windass if he doesn't produce on a regular basis with consistent performances. Lets see how it pans out for both … The Critical Factor is Rangers and the Future
He is 21 years old so why the criticism? If he was British his faults would be glossed over. He is still the best goal scorer rangers have in fact maybe the only one gers have.
I really don't get, Morelos. For me, he's like Pena and should be gotten rid of, asap. I know a lot, like him, but what I saw last season of him, was enough. We're getting good offers for him. Too many seem to be forgetting, that goals in the back of net, is what counts this season. The mission is bigger than individual personalities. Catching Celtic is the goal. This…""oh, this has affected him, and that's unsettled him" is BS as far as i'm concerned. Footballers should be used, to moving all over at short notice. What's important is goals and I just see Morelos fluffing-up, costing us points, while Celtic overtake us. We need truly consistent, proven scorers or two, as strikers. Not petulant prima-donnas who are goal-allergic. And that, is what he is, for me. Keeping to much deadwood from last season, is a mistake. A BIG mistake.
Goal allergic? How many strikers have we had in the last 20 yrs with a better scoring record. I can only think of Boyd and Novo in his 1st season. What we going to do sell him for £6m and buy who? Another youngster with potential. Because we ain't gonnae get a proven goal scorer in their mid to late 20s that'll guarnutee 20+ goals for £6m? we may unearth another jelavic. But he would cost us £8-£10m these days
You have your opinion, I have mine.
A sad indictment of the modern game { and it is a global aspect ) is the tendency to treat a player as a commodity… to develop him over a short period of time for profit rather than a long term fixed asset.
Alfredo Morelos clearly belongs in the former category, and we should not expect to see him given a testimonial in the future.
The hope is that he can earn his move with a consistently high level of performance in a blue jersey until that time arrives, and that we will feel a sense of pride when we watch him in the colors of another team.
I have a sense that he will offer some special memories this season, given the higher quality of the new squad. Other motivational factors could be the increased ( international ) profile of the club, and perhaps a good run by the Colombians in Russia
Id Hold On To Him
..Still Only 21!
Il wait and See how He Does Under Stevie! 😃👍⚽
Plus if he gets another 17-20 goals this Season we will be looking about £10mill again
17-20 goals in the Diddy League in Scotland is no big deal and will not take his value anywhere near £10m.
Plus even with his missing sitters he is still better than Sandaza and all the other Dodgy CFs over the Years
😂😂😂
#ColombianPowerHouse
#Potential
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