If Alfredo Morelos wants anywhere near the £45,000 per week he is claiming to be demanding, then he has to show that he is capable of the sort of form that we saw in 2019/20 when he scored 29 goals and created 10 assists or 2020/21 when he totalled 30 goal contributions.
Michael Beale has been here before and knows exactly what El Bufalo is capable of. The Gers gaffer hasn’t quite accused Morelos of phoning it in, however, by demanding more from the Colombian striker he is suggesting that he wants to see the sort of displays that used to make him unplayable.
Speaking to Football Insider, RTV pundit Alan Hutton has suggested that Morelos might already have something in the background and that is why his levels have dipped below previously high standards:
“I am still on the fence.
“I know he is a good player, we know that he is a goalscorer and that he has got it within him. I just think that recently, his body language, everything just does not seem to be on it at this moment in time.
“Whether that is because he knows that something is in the pipeline, we will have to wait and see.
“But it is going to be a really interesting summer moving forward for Rangers.“
If we are being honest, Morelos hasn’t been the same player that he was pre-covid. He doesn’t have a natural athleticism or the physique of a runner and has always had to rely on his physicality to bully defenders but, missing pre-season for the last two years through the Copa America and injury, has seen him lose a sharpness that used to give him an edge.
He has also been used to being the main man and his nose was clearly put out of joint by the form of Antonio Colak earlier in the season when he was still getting back to full fitness, a suspension for his attitude to training telling you everything you need to know about his application levels.
There are good players out there in our price range, look at Colak or Giorgios Giakoumakis who recently left Celtic, both cost around £2million and, given a full season, would almost guarantee over 25 goals a season. We have become that conditioned to Morelos and not being able to play without him that we think he can’t be replaced – he can, and I think he will.