Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos has reportedly agreed personal terms on a move to Lille – but the clubs are yet to agree on a fee.
That’s according to French football journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi who believes the Ligue 1 outfit are keen on making a move for Rangers’ Colombian firebrand.
Alfredo #Morelos has agreed personal terms with #Lille. The club is now negotiating with #Rangers over a fee.
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) July 26, 2020
But with talk of Lille’s budget hitting £15m when it comes to the striker, there’s about 105 million reasons why Rangers should be holding out for considerably more.
According to Transfermarkt, Lille raked in an astonishing £128.7m in transfer fees last season.
The likes of Nicolas Pepe joined Arsenal for €80m (£73m) at the start of the last campaign, whilst Lille cashed in €25m (£22m) for Thiago Mendes, who moved to Lyon.
Whilst they spent close to £75m to replace them and improve their squad, they were left with £53m to spare.
On top of that, the Ligue 1 side have also just sold Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen to Napoli for €60m (£54.5m) [Guardian].
That’s over £105m left over.
In short, they’ve got the money to spend on a suitable replacement.
Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos could be set to move to Lille if the two clubs can agree a fee. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Colombian international Morelos is certainly that.
The Ibrox faithful believe so much in their talismanic forward but fans understand that if the fee if right, this could be a move which benefits all parties.
Rangers could spend the money across the squad and build a more robust side ready to challenge Celtic for the title.
They may be gutted to see him leave, but Rangers fans believe Morelos cannot be allowed to go for anything less than £20m:
Morelos can’t be allowed to leave :
1) Before we play the sheep.
2) Before we have a replacement in
3) For less than 20mCertain we would have had deals lined up in this scenario though…
— Billy_. (@TheQuietKid18) July 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/legendsofibrox/status/1287329781449662464
If the Morelos stuff is true, I trust the club to get the right deal. No point even entering discussions if their opening offer isn't over £15m. We need to replace Morelos, sign another forward and still come out ahead, so there's no point in selling until you're at about £20m.
— Iain (@CemetryGates89) July 26, 2020
If it's true regards Morelos (I hope it isn't) then we should be seeking +£20m, especially when uou take into account the young 17yr old Birmingham lad going for £32m PLUS addons.
— Richard McLuckie (@Acemcl) July 26, 2020
If this is true he’ll not kick a ball for us again incase of injury especially against that mob!! I reckon we’ll see a forward in this week some point wether Morelos goes or not. We HAVE to demand 20m at the very least
— Allan (@allanm1981) July 26, 2020
If Morelos is away for any less than 20m I’ll be fuming , plus as well, going to Lille? You’d think he would have wanted a bigger move
— Andrew (@andrew97bro) July 26, 2020
If Morelos leaves he will go with our best wishes. I just hope the club hold out for the correct price. No less than £15M but hopefully nearer the £20M mark. Interesting week ahead …
— Geeb 🎙 (@Geeb1872) July 26, 2020
If we can get 20M+ for Morelos and a good sell on fee percentage then that is good business.
— TheDalcio (@calum955) July 26, 2020
If Morelos is away. Get it done quick we are week away from the start of the new season, can’t be wasting anytime here. The fee must be at least 20m as well for the timing of this…
— Logan Paterson 🏴🇳🇱 (@PatersonLogan03) July 26, 2020
I'd rather Morelos stayed until the end of the season then move on. If he was to move now, I'd hope the club don't settle for less than £20m and a good sell on clause.
— Thomas (@Thomas1872_) July 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/ecossesteve/status/1287338750427770882