Graeme Souness has said that Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos has ruined his chances of earning a move to the Premier League due to his disciplinary record this season.
While Morelos has been fantastic in front of goal this season – scoring 29 goals and assisting 11 others in 45 appearances – the Colombian international has also racked up five red cards in all competitions.
The 22-year-old has been particularly impressive in the Scottish Premiership, netting 17 goals and laying on eight in 27 games, but the Premiership is also where Morelos has picked up four of his five reds.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Souness highlighted Morelos’s natural talent but insisted that his ill discipline will prevent English top-flight clubs from approaching the forward.
Souness started off talking about Allan McGregor after the goalie was sent off at the weekend, but quickly switched to Morelos.
“It’s ill discipline and that’s not acceptable,” Souness said. “How old is Allan McGregor? 36, 37? He should have worked that out by now. Like the centre-forward they have, who’s reaching the point of no return with the things he gets sent off for.
“You go through life, not just football, and you have to learn from your mistakes. The big clubs in England won’t be looking at him. Elsewhere? Maybe.
“It’s how they [English] see the Scottish game, unfortunately. The hardest thing to do in football is score goals. Yes you might get someone in the Championship taking a chance on him, but I can’t see the Liverpools and Manchester Citys and Manchester Uniteds being interested in him. That’s how I see it.
“I wouldn’t know [his valuation], but I’d very much doubt big teams would be interested. Maybe lower end of the Premier League, but they would question his discipline.
“He’s a player, a real player, but he needs to get that out of his game. He’s somehow got to keep that fire, but control that fire.”
OPINION
For all of Morelos’s natural talent and ability in front of goal, he’d be a very good prospect for lower-end Premier League clubs but as Souness says, they are unlikely to take him on given his disciplinary record. The Premier League is a very physical league and if Morelos did secure a move to the English top flight, there’s a real chance he could react to being bullied by defenders and pick up red cards quite easily. One thing is for certain: if Morelos hadn’t picked up four red cards in the Scottish Premiership, he would definitely have made more than 27 appearances and you wouldn’t bet against him adding to his tally of 17 goals given the chance. In fact, as Rangers manager Steven Gerrard pointed out on Monday, the ill discipline of his players may well have cost Rangers a better shot at pipping Celtic to the league title this season.