Alex Rae has hailed the transformation of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos over the last year as “remarkable”.
The BBC pundit and former Ges midfielder has been blown away by the improvement in the game of the 22-year-old, who has scored 28 goals this season and been capped by Colombia.
Morelos revealed in his homeland last week he expected to leave Rangers this summer amid reported interest from Borussia Dortmund and Leicester City.
“He is 22 and the development he has undergone in the last year has been remarkable,” Rae told the Scottish Sun. “It is a seller’s market as well. With the Chinese market and other markets, players of that ilk are hard to get.
“When you look at Morelos last season, he ran offside in one of the Old Firm games about four times. From that guy to the guy now, the progress over a year has been remarkable. He is bullying centre-halves and scoring goals.
“If you look at Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama, that’s the path Morelos will be looking to take. If you had asked me a year ago if he could follow in the footsteps of Van Dijk and Wanyama, I would have said he would do well to get a Premiership club.
“However, his trajectory over the past year has been incredible. If he can go down there and keep scoring he could kick on again.”
OPINION
Morelos has emerged as the outstanding player in Scotland and, if he can end the season with a glut of goals and end Rangers’ trophy drought, talk of a £20million valuation will not be in the least bit fanciful. The Colombian has scored consistently this season, and his movement, finishing and all-round game has dramatically improved since his hit-and-miss early Ibrox days. Unlike, say, ex-Celtic ace Moussa Dembele, Morelos hasn’t yet consistently delivered in the biggest matches and he will probably need to take that step to secure the kind of transfer fee the Glasgow giants will be holding out for. There is also the issue of the 22-year-old’s hair trigger temper, perhaps a consequence of the pressure he feels under to deliver in a city that lives and breathes football. Morelos’ best answer to his dwindling number of critics is to score goals and spearhead the Light Blues to crucial wins.