When Rangers were first linked with Juan Alegria, the obvious comparison with Alfredo Morelos was made immediately, the fact that he was playing in Finland only added to this.
That he is a completely different type of forward will only be learnt by watching him in action, however, his recent return to fitness and form has seen fans demand that he make the next step from training with the first-team to playing with it.
Speaking to Rangers TV, B team coach Brian Gilmour has praised the 19-year old’s attitude in working hard to get back into shape and before his hat-trick against Alloa Athletic in mid-week, spoke about getting the Colombian youth cap up to speed:
“It is always a positive when we get players back into the group, nobody wants to be out for a period of time.
“Juan has had a tough time in terms of the injury, but he is getting fitter, he is getting stronger.
“He is getting to learn more and more about his team-mates and us on a daily basis, you can see that.
“There were times that we touched on his play on Saturday, still looks a little bit off the speed, but that will come through time, through his training, through his games.
“But, overall we are pleased to have him back in the group.“
If this is the sort of form he is capable of when he is lacking sharpness, it’s no real surprise that he has already been seen training with Steven Gerrard’s squad, yes, the standard of opposition has to be taken into consideration, but he clearly knows where the goal is having scored in almost every game in which he has featured.
Nobody is quite suggesting that Alegria should start ahead of Roofe and Morelos in the next fixture, however, he should at least be under consideration for a place on the bench when the opportunity rises – there is no point having a B team if good performances aren’t rewarded.