Rangers boss Graeme Murty has warned that it will take ‘a big barrowload’ of money to prise star striker Alfredo Morelos away from Ibrox, but honestly admitted that the Premier League is the ultimate goal for many players.
The 21-year-old Colombian striker was on target again as Rangers overcame Aberdeen to move second in the Premiership on Wednesday night, with Morelos nodding home James Tavernier’s cross to open the scoring in a 2-0 win.
Murty was being asked about Morelos’ comments to Colombian TV channel Win Sports in which he admitted he had aspirations to play in the Premier League at the end of the season.
Speaking to the press after the Aberdeen game, Murty said, as quoted by the Daily Record, “Unless someone walks in with a barrowload of cash – and a big barrowload – he will be a Rangers player.”
“I want players who have aspirations to be in a better place. Hopefully we can get better at Rangers. But the big prize is to play in the Premier League. You can safeguard your family’s future with one move. If we have someone good enough to go there, it’s fantastic for us,” Murty said.
Morelos was a £1million summer signing from Finnish outfit HJK Helsinki where he had scored 46 goals in 62 appearances, and the diminutive striker has hit the ground running at Rangers with 13 goals in all competitions so far.
He is also the Premiership’s top scorer with 11 in the competition.
OPINION
Morelos’ comments were worrying for Rangers fans, but in many ways Murty is right. The Premier League is undeniably the ultimate goal for many players, and the money involved is life-changing. There doesn’t seem to be any issue with Morelos’ attitude, and it is promising that he got on the scoresheet once again. At this rate it does look like someone is going to have to come in with a bucketload of cash for Morelos, who is scoring for fun in Scotland, and with Rangers’ financial situation, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.