The biggest transfer story of last summer went out with a whimper as Rangers reportedly rejected a bid in the region of £16m for talismanic striker Alfredo Morelos from Ligue 1 Lille.
It resulted in the spiky Colombian having his “head turned” by the admission of Steven Gerrard and took months for Alfredo to properly settle down this season.
In turn Lille signed two strikers of their own in Jonathan David – a substantial £26m move from Genk in Belgium – and Burak Yilmaz – the experienced Turk joining on a free from Besiktas.
And it is the latter who continues to defy his age of 35 with a range of explosive striking performances which as things stand could yet fire Lille to the Ligue 1 title.
Lile’s weekend comeback win over Lyon, which saw them battle back from two goals down to win 3-2 with Yilmaz scoring twice, has them a point clear in the French top tier.
Things are so tight in Ligue 1 that two points separate the top three whilst five points separate the top four with only 12 points to play for this season.
Lille’s talented squad is expected to be ripped up in the summer with a host of suitors eyeing up their top talent but it’s been an Indian Summer of sorts for striker Yilmaz.
The striker has 14 goals in total for the French side – including 12 in Ligue 1 – and he could be the driving force behind their title victory this season.
Given how long the Alfredo Morelos to Lille talk rumbled on for, you get the feeling the French side won’t rue their failure to sign the Colombian should Yilmaz fire them to title glory.
Morelos, 24, has been routinely linked with the Ibrox exit door and one report is suggesting that the forward has already made his mind up regarding his future next season.
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