‘Big money, let’s not kid ourselves’ – Exclusive: McLeish reacts to Rangers transfer report
We’re delighted to welcome former Rangers manager Alex McLeish as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…
Alex McLeish has said that if Rangers were to sell Alfredo Morelos, they could replace him with a top-class striker with the money they’d get for him.
However, the issue now is that the window is set to close on Monday and there’s precious little time to do anything about it.
The Sun had reported that Lille were set to table a take-it-or-leave-it £18m bid for the striker but so far Rangers have held onto Morelos and he looks set to play a starring role in the Europa League tie against Galatasaray tonight.
Talking exclusively to Ibrox News, McLeish was asked if £18m was a lot of money to turn down for Rangers.
“Unless you feel you can get someone else in the door for that kind of money Morelos has to stay,” McLeish said.
“I’m sure Rangers could get someone else in – that’s big money, let’s not kid ourselves, especially in Scotland. But the window closes on Monday.
“You might look at that in England and say it’s not very much but in Scotland, it’s a big sum.
“There are so many players in world football who would love the chance to play for Rangers. We have two teams up here and the expectations are that they will win everything.
“But you need strikers. Big clubs generally like to have four strikers just in case you have any problems.
“I was at Birmingham where we had incredible problems. We won the League Cup and the week after Obafemi Martins and Nikola Žigić weren’t available again. McFadden was out for the whole season. Cameron Jerome had an injury.
“I still had Kevin Philips so we had five or six but it was very difficult for us to get goals.
“The more strikers you have, the better.”
It would be next to impossible to replace Morelos at this stage in the window and with Jermain Defoe’s age and the injury to Roofe, it’s essential that Morelos stays now.
A win tonight against Galatasaray would be a massive boost to Rangers, with the financial rewards that come from making the Group Stage of the Europa League.
Morelos could be the man to fire Rangers past a very tough Gala side.
In other news, Rangers ace proves he is exciting alternative to Gers regular in Sunday masterclass.