GRAEME Murty last night dismissed all suggestions that the Chinese bid for Alfredo Morelos was fake, writes Neil Cameron.
And the Rangers manager said the striker is going to be offered a new and improved deal in light of the interest from Beijing Renhe.
There has been much discussion on social media and beyond about the deal, with cynics claiming it was PR spin put out to make Rangers appear to be in a better financial position than they actually are in that they could turn down the reported offer of around £7million.
However, Murty said: “It was [authentic]. It was big. I heard some big number but as far as I was aware I was under no economic imperative to sell.
“If I can’t bring in a player at the same level or even better than the one we were letting go then we wouldn’t sell.
“I was told to make a footballing decision. I was not told we had got to a level where we were taking the bid. If we had got there we would have accepted it.
“Can you get someone as good as or better than Alfredo Morelos in 24 hours? No. So I was told that the money would not drive what we did. Obviously the Chinese window is not synced to ours and they may come back but we will deal with that when it happens.”
And now the 21-year-old Colombian Morelos could be made one of the best paid players at Rangers.
Murty revealed: “If you think of his valuation, it probably bodes us well that we look at his deal and make sure that he’s happy being here. We have to reward if they’re doing really well, Alfredo comes into that bracket but he’s not the only one.
“He’s just the most high-profile.”
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