Why Rangers should keep hold of Alfredo Morelos amidst interest
As per a report from Italian outlet Calciomercato, French Ligue 1 outfit OGC Nice are expected to make another bid to sign Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos, after seeing one bid rejected last week.
The French outfit, manager by Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, are in the market for a new centre-forward after seeing Italian striker Mario Balotelli complete a transfer to fellow Ligue 1 side Marseille earlier this month. And the club are believed to have made Morelos as their top target to fill in the vacancy left by the former Manchester City and Liverpool star. (Calciomercato)
Morelos joined Rangers from Finnish outfit HJK Helsinki in the summer of 2017 and has been a major success at the Ibrox since. The 22-year-old enjoyed a highly successful debut campaign in Scotland, finishing the 2017-18 term as the joint top-scorer for the club with Josh Windass, scoring 18 goals and registering seven assists in 43 appearances across all competitions.
The Colombian striker has been in sensational form in the ongoing season as well and has been one of the Gers’ main protagonists of the solid season they are enjoying under new manager Steven Gerrard.
So far in the 2018-19 season, Morelos has already bettered his tally from the last term, bagging 21 goals and setting up 10 more from just 36 matches across all competitions. ‘El Bufalo’ is the leading goalscorer in the Scottish Premiership currently with 13 goals from 21 appearances and has been directly been involved in 42% of the Rangers 47 goals in the league.
Having directly been involved in 31 goals for the Gers this term, Morelos is just behind Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi (41) and PSG’s French sensation Kylian Mbappe (32) when it comes to combined goals and assists tally across Europe this term. (Daily Record)
The numbers serve as solid evidence of how important a figure Morelos is for Gerrard’s side. Having failed to make it through to the knockout stages in Europe and faltered at the semifinal stages of the Scottish League Cup, the Light Blues will be eyeing to finish the season with the Scottish Cup triumph and will be keen on pushing arch-rivals Celtic in the Premiership title race. The Gers are currently three points behind the Hoops in second place, having played a game more.
Losing a player as prominent as Morelos midway through the season will hurt their chances badly on both fronts. The Gers did secure the signing of former England international Jermain Defoe on loan this month, but the former Tottenham man is in the twilight of his career and is more of a backup option, rather than being a regular starter week in week out.
All in all, Morelos is someone that Gerrard and Rangers can’t afford to lose at this point in the season. For that reason, they should once again rebuff the new offer that Nice are going to come up with and ensure that they keep hold of the Colombian beyond this month.
