As Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos reportedly agrees terms on a deal with Lille, naturally there has been a wave of Celtic fans revelling in the news.
Ordinarily, you’d forgive a set of supporters for celebrating the idea that their biggest rivals could lose their top scorer and most influential player.
But this time around Celtic fans should probably be careful what they wish for when it comes to the Colombian striker.
https://twitter.com/CelticLisboaa/status/1287339009522507776
https://twitter.com/Swedleypops/status/1287400433007419395
https://twitter.com/MmaCeltic/status/1287394758554464256
We’ll leave it there.
Forget the fact Morelos has never scored against Celtic – despite playing in 12 matches against our biggest rivals – the potential transfer fee could revolutionise this Rangers squad.
Steven Gerrard made a direct plea to the Rangers board after the club played Coventry City, pointing out that Rangers need greater strength in depth in order to compete with Celtic.
“We need more,” said Gerrard [Evening Express].
“I have told the club that, I’ve been honest and open with what I feel we need.
“In terms of where we are at from a financial point of view, they are questions for other people – but I have made it quite clear that we need to add to what we’ve got.
“We need to add players into the 11 to make us stronger and then, naturally, that will make the squad stronger.
“At the moment, we still need to get people in the door.”
Whilst Rangers are undoubtedly weakened by the exit of Morelos in the short term, the potential fee would allow the Gers to secure a raft of new signings.
The Ibrox support want no less than £20m for Morelos but earlier reports on Lille’s interest suggested the Ligue 1 club would be willing to splash out up to £15m [Daily Mail, 23/07/20, p.89].
Whatever the case, Rangers are likely to secure a substantial amount for the talented forward; money which could help the club in their pursuit of a range of targets throughout the squad.
The club has been linked to the likes of Kemar Roofe or Mirko Maric as a direct replacement for Morelos, whilst the likes of Lyndon Dykes or Florian Kamberi pose interesting options as a third-choice striker.
The club reportedly remains locked in talks with South African international Bongani Zungu as negotiations persist with Amiens over the fee [the 4th Official].
On top of all this, Morelos’ time in Scotland has been unfortunately blemished by erratic on-pitch behaviour and multiple red cards.
Not to mention some disgraceful treatment by the media and a frustrating inability to overcome a mental block against the Parkhead club.
The striker may be the darling of the Rangers support – and with good reason – but any transfer to Lille would remove the circus around the player built up by the very fans revelling in his exit.
Should the fee be the right one, this is far from the end of the world for Rangers.
It could be a revolutionary deal which suits all parties – Morelos included – as the club looks to secure signings who can challenge Celtic over the course of a season.
And – unlike Morelos – score against them too.
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