SCORING against Kilmarnock in the final Ladbrokes Premiership game of the season at Rugby Park this afternoon and becoming the first Rangers striker to net 30 goals in a single season in a decade will add to Alfredo Morelos’s value in the transfer market.
It will surprise nobody if the Colombian forward, who has made no secret of his desire to test himself at a higher level in recent weeks, departs in the summer for a sizeable fee despite his well-documented disciplinary difficulties.
The 22-year-old is, for all his flaws, a lethal predator and is sure to have attracted interest from clubs down south as well as further afield as a result of his displays up front in the 2018/19 campaign. A multi-million pound bid or two are likely to be forthcoming. The game today could well be his final appearance in this country.
Yet, Gary McAllister, the Rangers assistant manager, has revealed that he is keen to keep the top flight’s leading marksman for another season at least and expressed the view that it would be in the best interest of the combustible South American to stay for another campaign.
He believes that, with the continued guidance of manager Steven Gerrard and the coaching staff at the Hummel Training Centre, he can conquer his demons in the same way that another errant front man who he admires greatly, Luis Suarez, did.
“His goal tally has been outstanding,” said McAllister of a player who has, despite receiving five red cards in all competitions, been on target 29 times to date.
“His whole journey is a fantastic story. The more you get to know him and hear how it has developed it’s amazing what he has done.
“There have been downsides with the discipline stuff and maybe he hasn’t scored against our biggest rivals. His performances in the big games has come into question because he’s been sent off. But over the piece it is a special story.
“I like him as a man. I have watched a lot of Suarez. I see similarities in that they act poorly to certain moments. But he never misses training, is very robust, never gets injured and is strong. He also has a strong mentally as he often gets hammered. I rate him and think he has bundles of potential.”
Asked about whether he is ready to play in the Premier League, McAllister said: “We don’t want him to play in the Premier League. We see him as a key player here.
“As far as moving on to further his career that might be a pathway he wants to follow. That desire and hunger to score is there for all to see. I think he has power and pace which in that league you need. He ticks a lot of boxes.
“But I think he would benefit from another season here. I think under the stewardship of the people here we can make him better. I have played loads of guys who have that hunger and desire to win at all costs.
“It has sometimes hindered them. But I have played alongside players of similar age to Alfredo and seen them grow and become top players as the penny has dropped. Hopefully, the penny will drop.
“He is still only a young boy and he ended up in Finland as a teenager. That is a big step to go from South America to Northern Europe. And then to end up here and score for fun.”
Meanwhile, McAllister has admitted Rangers loanees Greg Docherty (Shrewsbury Town), Jordan Rossiter (Bury) and Zak Rudden (Falkirk) have a chance to play their way into the Ibrox first team when they return for pre-season training despite the prospect of several new arrivals in Govan in the coming weeks.
“Everyone will report back,” he said. “Jordan has done well and we've been mightily impressed by Greg. I actually went down to watch him and he played really well. He's played 50 games down there and won Player of the Year. Zak has been outstanding at Falkirk, he's made a lot of noise through there and impressed.
“So they'll come back into the group in pre-season and we'll see where everyone is. We're aligning ourselves again this summer and it'll be competitive.”
McAllister, though, did admit that competition for places in the centre of the park will be considerable following the signing of Steven Davis and Glen Kamara in January. “We're well off for midfielders,” he said. “How many you can carry? That's another question.”
It is unlikely that Steve Clarke will be at Kilmarnock next season regardless of whether his side finish third in the Premiership today and clinch an automatic Europa League qualifying spot. The Rugby Park manager is the favourite to succeed Alex McLeish as Scotland manager.
Clarke has admitted that he would miss having day-to-day involvement with players if he moved from club to international football. But his assistant Alex Dyer believes he would be able to cope with the transition if he is offered and decides to take the position in the coming days.
“He is a professional,” said Dyer. “He can switch on and switch off. If that job was to come about and he took it then he knows what that job entails. He loves being out on the grass, he loves coaching. Whatever decision he makes he knows what he’s going into.”
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