Doug Ward

Sat 3 October 2020 8:10, UK

Chris Sutton has claimed that Rangers must keep Alfredo Morelos if they want to qualify from the Europa League group stages.

Morelos, 23, has been linked with a move away from Glasgow pretty much since he first arrived at Ibrox in 2017 but speculation about his future has been louder than ever the past few months amid a spate of poor performances by the striker.

The Scottish Sun reported last month that Lille could make a bid to sign Morelos before the transfer window closes on Monday but Steven Gerrard has suggested this week that the Colombia international is going nowhere [Scotsman].

Morelos’ form, however, has dropped off a cliff since the turn of the year with the Colombian netting just three goals in 15 Scottish Premiership appearances in 2020.

He has shown signs that he’s getting back to his best since the new season kicked off in August but we’re still yet to see the Morelos that tore Scotland to shreds in 2019.

Ex-Celtic striker Sutton has backed Morelos to rediscover his form if Rangers manage to keep hold of him past the end of the transfer deadline on Monday.

If they don’t manage to do that, Sutton has suggested the Gers could face a tough campaign in the Europa League.

“If I was a Rangers fan – and that’s a big if – he scored so many goals last season. You wouldn’t want to see Morelos leave,” said Sutton on BT Sport’s Scottish Football Extra on Friday night.

“There is something in there. He needs to knuckle down and get back to the form that he showed last season and Rangers will benefit from that.

“I still think that [Kemar] Roofe, in the past, has been a decent player and he still has to prove himself. [Cedric] Itten looks young and hungry but Morelos is still the man.

“He’s the guy that if they want to get through the group stages, they’re going to have to rely on him.”

Morelos has scored five goals and assisted a further three in 10 appearances across all competitions.

One of those goals came against Hibernian, which is fair enough, but the only other two teams he’s netted against are St Mirren and Lincoln Red Imps, which are hardly the best teams that the Gers have faced this season.

Morelos has to step it up in the big matches.

He’s yet to score a goal against Celtic and his performance in the win against Galatasaray on Thursday was underwhelming to say the least.

The Glasgow Evening Times scored Morelos a 6/10 for his display in the 2-1 victory, saying that the Colombian “strayed offside unnecessarily at times”.

While it was frustrating to see him being caught offside, it at least shows there’s a hunger and desire to get back among the goals.

Hopefully, once the transfer window is closed and Morelos can fully focus on his football, his performances will get back to how they were this time last year.

In other Rangers news, Sutton took a swipe at the Light Blues after their win against Galatasaray and Ally McCoist hit back.