‘Odsonne Edouard and Alfredo Morelos will go if decent offers come in’ says Ally McCoist

Rangers legend reckons ten-in-a-row hype will count for nothing due to financial climate

Odsonne Edouard has been linked with Arsenal, Everton and Leicester City. Picture: SNS.

Ally McCoist believes the Old Firm will be unable to resist offers for their prize assets Odsonne Edouard and Alfredo
Morelos during the current transfer window.

Despite the hype and significance surrounding Celtic’s
quest for ten-in-a-row and the pressure on Rangers to stop their rivals setting a new record of consecutive title wins, McCoist insists financial imperatives will force the hand of both clubs if sizeable bids come in for Edouard or Morelos.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon insists the Scottish champions will try to “stave off” interest in Edouard after the French striker lit up the opening weekend of the new Premiership campaign with a hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Hamilton Accies at Parkhead.

Alfredo Morelos is wanted by French club Lille. Picture: SNS.

The 22-year-old, signed from Paris Saint-Germain for a club record fee of £9 million, has two years left on his contract and is now valued at around £30m by Celtic. That’s a figure
which won’t frighten off English Premier League suitors such as Arsenal, Everton and Leicester City who have all been linked with Edouard.

Rangers, meanwhile, have already rebuffed initial interest from Lille in their leading scorer Morelos this summer but are braced for further efforts by the French club to sign the Colombian international striker whom they value
at around £20m.

Morelos, under contract until 2023, helped Rangers to a 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday, providing the assist for Ryan Kent’s winner.

Former Rangers manager McCoist, the Ibrox club’s all-time record goalscorer and a member of their nine-in-a-row winning squad from 1989 to 1997, appreciates how momentous this season is in terms of historical bragging rights between the Glasgow giants.

But he feels both will be powerless to hold on to their leading strikers if the asking prices are met by wealthier clubs before the transfer window closes on 5 October.

“If an offer comes in for either Edouard or Morelos it’s very, very difficult for those clubs to knock it back,” said McCoist.

“Because they have no doubt slipped behind in the financial race, particularly with teams down south and survival is of paramount importance. So I understand the importance of the season for everybody up here but at the same time business will overrule the lot and I totally understand

that.”

Morelos has made no secret of his ambition to move to a bigger league one day and McCoist feels the timing could be right for Rangers to sell him, as long as manager Steven Gerrard is able to fill the void left by the 24-year-old who has scored 77 goals in 138 games since being signed

from HJK Helsinki for around £1m three years ago.

“I’m Morelos’ biggest fan and I was up at Aberdeen watching the game at the weekend and he was okay, he did fine, he didn’t look to be firing on all cylinders,” said McCoist on talkSPORT. “Morelos is key to Rangers moving forward this season but the most important thing is, if you do sell him, you get a good price for him and more importantly from the fans’ point of view, you have to replace his goals.

“I know as a manager or coach you have to show strength and show discipline but we spoke about it last week with [Alexis] Sanchez coming back into a dressing room at Manchester United.

“You don’t want somebody there that doesn’t want to

be there. It’s simple. Because it’s not a good vibe for the rest of the playing staff. You need everybody to be singing from the same hymn sheet.

“So in that respect, I don’t think that would have been a good move and I think Morelos will move if the offer is acceptable to

Rangers.”

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