Andrew Maddox

Mon 20 June 2022 11:10, UK

Alfredo Morelos has been Rangers’ talisman ever since signing in 2017 and passed a century of goals for the Glasgow giants in 2021.

However, there has been talk surrounding his exit for years now, with Lille having a £16million bid rejected in 2020.

Spanish outfit Sevilla are believed to be circling, with Football Scotland reporting that they are readying a bid of £6.6 million for Morelos.

It is expected that Rangers will reject this, with the same report stating that while they will have to accept a lower fee, Sevilla’s bid is much too low.

However, there is a ready-made replacement if Morelos does choose to exit Rangers this summer.

Sunderland striker Ross Stewart is believed to be Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first choice to replace Morelos and he would be the perfect candidate to step in.

Stewart exploded into life this season with 24 goals and five assists as Sunderland finally returned to the Championship.

While this season’s tally is higher than all his previous seasons combined if he can carry his form into the Scottish Premiership he could be just as dominant as Morelos.

He has shown he can turn up in big games, scoring twice in Sunderland’s play-off campaign to fire them back into the second tier.

While his scoring did slow down after Alex Neil arrived at the Stadium of Light, he added creativity to his game, notching four assists under the Scotsman.

Money talks.

There is one other aspect that makes him ideal to replace Morelos: affordability.

According to Transfermarkt, Stewart’s market value is just £450,000 while his wage is a reported £2,700 per week.

Meanwhile, Morelos is listed as being worth £11.7million on Transfermarkt and has a reported wage of £33,000 per week.

Stewart’s value will be higher after promotion, but they could still make a good profit on him and have the flexibility to give him a huge pay rise.

This would give Rangers the freedom to improve other areas of the squad, especially at centre back or goalkeeper should Calvin Bassey or Allan McGregor move on this summer.

There is also the matter of contracts, with Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and Borna Barisic, who is also attracting interest from Turkey and Italy according to the Daily Record, all in the final year of their deals at Ibrox.

While it will hurt for Rangers to see him leave, it could turn out for the best.

In other Rangers news, scouts at Ibrox are said to have watched this ‘immense’ powerhouse numerous times ahead of a potential major transfer