Former Celtic defender, Mark Wilson, has made the bizarre claim that Rangers would be lucky to get the £10-15million that he believed the Ibrox club were hoping to get for him when he was at his peak last season.
Speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard and reported by The Scottish Sun, Wilson thinks that his drop in form after the winter break has seen his value drop considerably.
So what has Wilson said?
When asked to comment on the recent rumours linking Morelos with a move to Napoli and Everton, he said:
“It wasn’t so long ago that Alfredo Morelos was the number one striker, he couldn’t be dropped. Rangers relied heavily on him.
“Now, he has to catch the manager’s eye and show that he has to be part of that starting eleven. Every player has his price.
“You just wonder what that price is. Not so long ago the prices being thrown about where 10 and 15 million. Now, I’m not so sure Rangers would get a bid of that.
“He certainly did exceptional in the first half of the season with his goals and in Europe. But in the second half of the season he tailed away.
“His disciplinary standards took a step back if you like and his performances suffered.
“I wonder if teams then look at that and that adjusts their price.”
So is Wilson correct?
No, is the short answer. Last season Rangers faced a constant barrage of former Celtic players criticising Alfredo Morelos for one thing or another and when there was nothing to criticise, they just made it up – see John Hartson for just one example.
Wilson mentions Morelos’s disciplinary standards in the second half of the season – not one red card – his two red cards coming in the first half of the season and both were soft and for two bookable offences, they are never shy in letting a lie get in the way of a good story.
There is also the small matter of Morelos having two perfectly good goals ruled out after the winter break which would’ve made the question about his form almost redundant – admittedly his performance levels dropped, but so did the whole team, this does’t equate to him being worth half of what he was previously, his form was good enough for him still to be called up into the Colombia squad for the Copa America.
As always, with Morelos and ex-Celtic players, they focus purely on trying to set a negative narrative about a player that, don’t forget, broke a UEFA record for scoring goals before the winter break – £50m rated Odsonne Edouard hasn’t done that – and it is the highest level that players at the Old Firm are judged by teams in the Premier League and beyond, not how many goals they score against the likes of Hamilton or St Mirren.