Ibrox View: Rangers ace surely lands himself Ibrox lifeline after EL performance
Once again, the biggest transfer story at Rangers this summer concerned the future of Colombian forward Alfredo Morelos.
The 24-year-old was linked with a move away from Ibrox with the most likely suitors seemingly French side Lille.
The Gers reportedly rejected a bid of around £16 million from the French club and Morelos remained at Ibrox.
This was seen as good news as Rangers had kept hold of a man who scored 29 goals in all competitions for the Light Blues last season. But this term the Colombian hasn’t looked anything like the player he was last season as he only has six goals to his name over 14 appearances.
This form has lead to calls for Steven Gerrard’s talisman to be dropped and these calls have been getting louder following consecutive poor performances against Celtic and Standard Liege. Until Thursday he had gone eight games without a goal while the other strikers at the club have been finding the net.
Since that last goal, Kemar Roofe, Cedric Itten and Jermain Defoe have all found the net for the Gers, which begs the question, why wasn’t Morelos sold in the summer?
But, on Thursday, Morelos responded to his recent critics in the only way he knows how by scoring the winner in the Gers’ Europa League clash with Lech Poznan. The Colombian looked back to his best as he came off the bench and steered a powerful header past the helpless Poznan keeper.
The 24-year-old needed to put in a good performance after being dropped to the bench and he certainly delivered. Hopefully, he continues his form the next time he is handed a start and can start adding more goals to his tally this season.
Morelos has bought himself some more time, but, if he goes off the boil again then the same questions over his future will start to be asked. Hopefully, he can get back to his best and help to fire Rangers to the Scottish title and further European success.
In other Rangers news, Gerrard delivers verdict on Neil Lennon’s future at Celtic.