When Emma Dodds asked Michael Beale “are you sick of talking about Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent yet” in a sit down conversation with the Rangers TV presenter and Kevin Thomson, you got the feeling that it will be a question that the Gers gaffer is going to be asked at every press conference between now and the end of the season.
Michael Beale is more confident today than he was that Kent and Morelos will sign new contracts ✍️ pic.twitter.com/DFJEKlWckV
— The Rangers Review (@RangersReview55) February 16, 2023
Sure as anything, in the build-up to today’s fixture with Livingston, Beale was asked, once again, what the latest is with regards to the contract negotiations between the pair and the club, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“The talks are ongoing, the club know my feelings on it. The players and their representatives are talking, I think the way that the club ends this season will determine everything for more than just those players. There is a lot to play for at this moment in time.
“We know the emotions in this city based around where you finish and whether you hold a trophy above your head between now and the end of the season.
“I think that has a big part to play in terms of the make-up of our squad next year. That’s certainly any comments I’ve made before today are not to show that I’m less confident, if anything I am more confident today.”
As long as nothing has been ruled out, there has to be a positivity that both will sign new deals, however, with Beale talking about adding a new striker in the summer and saying that he wants three number nines, I can’t see how Morelos stays beyond the summer and that the manager is just protecting the player.
I’d still be surprised if Kent doesn’t stay but as Beale says, if we finish the season without any trophies this season, it would be hard to justify the club handing out bumper contracts to players who have regularly failed to collect silverware and that a new approach might be needed.