Former Rangers striker and Assistant Manager, Jonatan Johansson, has predicted that Alfredo Morelos will be attracting attention based not only on his performances over the last couple of seasons but how he measures up through statistical analysis.
Speaking to The Daily Record, JJ – who “discovered” Morelos when Pedro Caixinha was the Ibrox gaffer – has backed the Colombian international to be on the radar of the continent’s bigger clubs with the 2019/20 season nearly completed.
“Good teams need strikers who can score a lot of goals, that can be the big difference if you want to be successful.
“Alfredo holds the ball up, is quick and is strong, so you bring the assets all together and it would make him very valuable to most teams. Top teams are always interested in good players and particularly goalscorers.
“Every top club will be using some form of scout and video programmes. The teams and data analysts will be comparing him to other players and they will be looking at the statistics to see if he could do it in a so-called bigger league as well.
“A lot of teams will be doing their homework and there will be a lot of scouts at Ibrox as soon as they are allowed back in.”
Morelos bagged 30 goals for Rangers and Colombia last season despite it being cut three quarters of the way through and The Record reports that the INSTAT programme – used by many clubs for analysis – has predicted a similar outcome this season if he stays at Ibrox.
There has been plenty of clubs linked with moves for the talismanic striker over the last 18-months, and several Premier League clubs have been credited with an interest in the player who had been called up for Colombia’s initial Copa America squad prior to football being shutdown.
His goal scoring exploits in the Europa League last season – 14 goals before the winter break – will have attracted the most attention given the standard of opposition and for those who continue to play down his valuation, this figure alone should be enough to justify the Ibrox club’s valuation of at least £20million.
Steven Gerrard is keen for his top goalscorer to stay however, as with all players, if the right price is offered it will be hard to ignore and with several strikers rumoured to be on his radar, Gers fans can only hope that the right target has been identified, should they decide to cash in.