Ibrox View: Rangers in danger of falling into pointless bidding war for £9m talent
RANGERS OPINION
Another day, another round of Rangers transfer speculation surrounding a potential replacement for Alfredo Morelos.
The Colombian has consistently been linked with a move away from Ibrox in recent times, with Leicester City and West Ham emerging as the two newest clubs who are reportedly courting his services, according to The Sun.
And of course, if the 23-year-old does depart this summer, the Gers will have to move decisively to bring in a talent who can go some way to filling the void he would leave.
One player who has been linked is Trabzonspor striker Caleb Ekuban.
According to Turkish outfit Fotospor, the Gers are keen on the Ghana international, and see him as the man to fill Morelos’ boots in Glasgow.
So far this season he has eight goals in 25 outings – some way behind Morelos’ goals tally of 29 – but statistically he measures up pretty well to the South American.
The African actually has a higher total action success rate than the Rangers star, edging him out by 51.3% to 48.5%, as per Wyscout.
Similarly, his pass completion rate stands at 81.1% – 5.9% better than Morelos’.
Sure, his xG is 0.36 compared to Morelos’ 0.74, but his actual goals per game tally is an impress 0.45, meaning that he’s finishing chances that he isn’t even expected too.
But if the Gers really do want him, they might have to move quickly – and he won’t come cheap.
Trabzonspor president Ahmet Ağaoğlu has made it clear that he will take no less than £9,000,000 for the forward, as per Fotomac.
And a further report from GhanaSoccerNet suggests that Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal are interested in snapping him up too.
Would it be worthwhile for the Gers to spend such an exorbitant fee on a player who hasn’t even reached double figures in the goalscoring charts this season – especially when the chances of getting sucked into a bidding war look increasingly likely?
We’re not so sure.
In other Rangers news, Gers legend Ally McCoist identifies ‘bigger problem’ in SPFL title race controversy.