OPINION
Rangers clearly have a decision to make over the future of Alfredo Morelos but it is not one that is going to be simple.
The 22-year-old forward may have penned a new contract earlier this season to commit himself to the club until 2023, as confirmed by the club’s website, but his ability to constantly get suspended means his future isn’t completely secure at Ibrox.
This is especially the case when you consider the likes of the Daily Express are reporting that the Gers are fielding interest in Morelos.
Sky Sports pundit Andy Walker seemed to agree with the idea that Morelos could be on the chopping block as he claimed the Gers have a business decision to make regarding the player.
The pundit in his verdict suggested that Gerrard’s team played a more appealing style of football when Jermain Defoe played instead of Morelos, as he shared it was free-flowing, and added that it was perhaps time to cash-in on the Colombian.
“I think there is a business decision to be made at Rangers about what to do with Morelos because as you saw at the weekend with Jermain Defoe up in attack I thought he led the line really well,” said Walker on Sky Sports News (Monday April 22nd, 11:20am)
“I thought you had players like Candeias and Arfield getting up well and Rangers played a lot of good football, and Morelos can occupy a back four all of his own but I think there’s a different style to Rangers when Defoe plays.
“It’s more on the ground, it’s more free-flowing, there’s more movement, more mobility and Morelos will come back into the team at some stage but I think if you can get money for him and given his really poor disciplinary record, you really should try to cash-in on him I think.”
While Walker is spot-on to claim the Gers face a business decision over Morelos as he can likely be sold for a mouthwatering price after scoring 29 goals in 45 outings this season, the rest of his verdict suggests that he is in dreamland.
The pundit seems to make it clear that the Gers face a really easy decision when it comes to parting with Morelos as he suggests they play better and have a ready-made replacement in Defoe.
However Defoe is 36-years-old, and surely gambling on a veteran to carry the team forward instead of a 22-year-old carries a massive risk.
Who knows how long the currently on-loan Bournemouth forward can keep going? Or how long he will be at Ibrox himself as the English club could always cancel his temporary spell at the Gers in the summer.
Also the Gers haven’t always excelled without Morelos and just because they wowed without him in their latest outings, doesn’t mean they can always cope without the lethal finisher to call upon.
With that in mind Walker is surely in dreamland or at least wearing rose-tinted glasses when he is talking about the business decision the Gers face regarding Morelos.