Jermain Defoe names ‘chilled’ ex-Rangers teammate Alfredo Morelos angriest player as Troy Deeney lauds his ‘belly’
Alfredo Morelos was “chilled” off the pitch but would switch and want “fight everyone” in games according to former Rangers teammate Jermain Defoe.
The former England forward told Troy Deeney for BBC Sounds, via a clip on 5 Live’s Twitter, that the Colombian was one of the angriest players he had ever played with in his career, while former Watford captain Deeney celebrated Morelos for being a similarly heavy player with a “belly”.
Morelos, 27, regularly drew attention for both his temper and his weight during six seasons at Ibrox before leaving this summer after scoring 124 goals, eventually signing for Santos.
Defoe said: “You know who’s really angry? Alfredo Morelos when I went to Rangers.”
“I like him, he’s got a belly like me,” replied Forest Green Rovers’ Deeney, “he can still do it with the belly.”
“Bro, this guy,” Defoe continued, “Colombian, chilled. Bruv, chilled like that, walking around with his five phones in his hand and he’s just chilling. On the pitch he just switches. Angry. Just wants to fight everyone.
“And even when he scores, have you seen his celebration? He does this thing with his face, he’s aggressive!”
Sounds about right
It will come as no surprise to Rangers fans, or indeed to Scottish football supporters in general, that Morelos is one of the most furious players Defoe has encountered in his time.
While he played close to the boundary at times it was El Bufalo’s attitude that arguably made him such an impossible task for SPFL defenders to deal with so often.
Although he had somewhat worn out his welcome at Ibrox once he was dropped from the squad by Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the early part of last season, rendering a contract extension moot, he was still regularly preferred to start up front by Michael Beale up until his exit.
The lack of a transfer fee for the man who had been the main Rangers goal threat for over half a decade is a factor that still rankles among the fanbase.
And in light of the struggles experienced by successors Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, and to a lesser extent Danilo, there will likely be a decent number who would have rather seen Morelos stay.
The failure of the new-look attacking line-up cost Beale his job, and made memories of a Morelos-Defoe strike force all the more attractive.
In other Rangers news, Neil Lennon has praised Philippe Clement for something he didn’t see coming after taking over at Ibrox.