By Stewart Fisher
STEVEN Gerrard was adamant last night that Alfredo Morelos will not be sold during the January transfer window after the Colombian fired Rangers into the first Old Firm cup final since 2011. The 23-year-old moved onto the 20-goal mark as he blasted in a second-half double which saw the Ibrox side comfortable 3-0 winners against a Hearts side under the interim management of Austin MacPhee to book their first visit to a domestic showpiece since the 2016 Scottish Cup final defeat to Hibs and Gerrard’s first as manager.
The Ibrox side – with new sporting director Ross Wilson at Hampden yesterday – revealed recently that they lost £11m in the last financial year but Gerrard had no problem issuing a guarantee that Morelos wouldn’t be sold when the transfer window re-opens in January. Before then, there is the small matter of the BetFred Cup final here against Celtic on December 8. Their first semi-final win in six attempts, the comparison with the club’s only previous last four defeat under the Englishman couldn’t be clearer. He went into that 1-0 Hamden defeat to Aberdeen with only the on-loan Umar Sadiq up front.
Asked if he was confident Morelos will still be here in January, Gerrard said: “I’m not confident, I am sure. I am 100% sure that he is not going anywhere.
“With all due respect, standing there last year I knew we were limited in the No 9 position. To stand there today with Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe behind me, I felt different.
“The final will be quite an occasion. There will be plenty of time to speak about it and who it’s against. But today is all about Rangers and us performing ever so well and the lads should enjoy it. Tonight is all about them.”
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