Has there ever been a more polarising player on the Scottish football stage than Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos?
Adored by the Ibrox faithful, the 27-goal Colombian can do wrong and is the talisman of a young team bursting with talent and potential.
For others, he’s a grimy player, a cheat and for some reason painted out to be the worst thing to happen to Scottish football since Tom English’s patter.
There is no player more talked about in Scotland right now, be that either good or bad, and Morelos is as box office as it gets in these parts.
Feisty, ferocious and full of talent, Alfredo Morelos is arguably one of the most talked-about people in the country, let alone footballers.
And he deserves credit for how he is handling it.
For all the chat of rejecting £40m+ bids [Scottish Sun] for his services and the boos, hisses and whistles from opposition fans, Alfredo has just gone about his business.
Far from be distracted, Morelos appears to have excelled in the limelight and grown as a footballer in the last year.
Gone are the petty misdemeanours (for the most part at least), here is a serious player which you’d be foolish betting against scoring in every game he plays.
Against Motherwell, the Colombian was harshly done by as he saw red for giving some back to the neds who’d been giving it to him all game.
Shame on Don Robertson for choosing that moment to implement the most underapplied rule in Scottish football.
But this kind of stuff is a minor blip – a growing inconvenience that Alfredo himself recognises is hampering his development instead of elevating it.
Where the true qualities of this young man lie were highlighted by UEFA this week [UEFA].
Morelos now holds the title of the most European goals scored before Christmas by any player, his 14 now level with Lionel Messi’s best in a season at Barca.
Four off Colombian legend Falcao, if everything goes to plan in the Europa League knockout stages he could well match or better that impressive record.
Forget the boos, whistles, jeers, red cards and nonsense – this is the only evidence you need that El Bufalo is the most unique talent on these shores.
