As Alfredo Morelos prepares to exit Rangers, there’s a lingering sour taste about his final days at Ibrox which leaves no-one at the club looking particularly good.
Ibrox manager Michael Beale confirmed that the Colombian striker, 26, is set to vacate at Ibrox at the end of the season when his contract expires, putting an end to speculation on his future.
After a six year stint in Glasgow, where Alfredo Morelos has flipped between hero and villain so many times we’ve lost count, an exit is probably a little overdue.
But in a post-Aberdeen parting shot, Michael Beale left himself looking a little short and sharp with many Rangers fans feeling that after years of service, it was unnecessary to gut the striker like a buffalo.
Pointing to a distinct lack of energy, the suggestion from Michael Beale – who has been pretty clear that Alfredo Morelos isn’t at the levels required since the Englishman came back to Ibrox – was that Morelos isn’t providing enough energy up top.
It’s a genuine criticism for sure, but the fact that Michael Beale mixed it in with his farewell confirmation has left some fans feeling the Colombian has been done dirty.
Sour taste lingers ahead of Alfredo Morelos Rangers exit
It’s not the only sour feeling lingering over Alfredo Morelos as he prepares to exit Rangers either, with the club itself not looking too smart by failing to cash in when the big money was being offered.
Lille had a reported £16m bid rejected for Alfredo Morelos ahead of the 55-winning season but since then the striker has failed to kick his game on a level.
In fact, Alfredo Morelos has regressed substantially over the last few seasons with a long injury lay-off calling time on his effectiveness as a mobile, robust and influential forward for Rangers.
As a result, there is also a bitter feeling towards the striker himself, who has let the club down several times with selfish behaviour and was even banished from the Champions League Playoff squad earlier in the season.
There have been commitment, fitness and attitude issues aplenty and Rangers fans probably don’t know the whole story behind the disruption the striker has caused at the training centre.
But whilst all that is well and good, this is the one Rangers player who has been a standout hero for a generation of Ibrox supporters and has wrote himself into the club’s history.
The first South American to become an Ibrox centurion, Alfredo Morelos is also Rangers’ all-time European top goalscorer and he will remain a hero to many, even if it never ended how we’d all hoped for him at Ibrox.
