Report – European giants plot eight-figure summer swoop for Rangers talent
Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos this summer, according to Spanish outlet AS Diario.
The La Liga giants are understood to be keen on the Colombian, who they believe can replicate the success of compatriot Radamel Falcao – a club legend in the Spanish capital.
The 23-year-old showed great form during the first half of the campaign at Ibrox, striking 28 times before the midseason winter break.
Since then, however, he has struggled to find the back of the net, and has scored just once since January across all competitions.
A report from the Daily Mail suggests that Atletico value Morelos at around £10-15 million, and could look to him in an effort to solve their ongoing issues in front of goal, having struck just 31 times in 27 league outings this term.
What should Rangers do here?
In an ideal world, we would keep Morelos.
He may be going through a rough patch at the moment, but there’s no denying that he is a superlative goalscoring talent, and one that would be incredibly difficult to replace.
That being said, it does feel like an increasing inevitability that he will leave the club at some point.
We saw reported interest in him in January, with both Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan linked with moves to lure him away, as per Football Insider.
And if another club of that calibre were to make a concrete offer for Morelos, it could be very difficult for both the Gers and the player to resist the advance.
The only real point of contention here is that £15 million price tag.
Again, Morelos is struggling at the moment, but that feels a tad on the low side.
So far this term, the South American has scored more goals than Celtic star Odsonne Edouard, as well as having more shots on target per game, winning a higher percentage of his offensive duels, and registering a higher xG rating, as per Wyscout.
And yet we have columns from the likes of Chris Sutton suggesting that the Frenchman is worth £40 million.
If that is the case, then Morelos is worth a whole lot more than £15 million, and the Gers must hold their own in any negotiations for him.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Simple genius of Gers first teamer has been sorely missed this year.