Alfredo Morelos told to focus on Rangers

Striker needs to ‘get up to speed’ despite transfer talk

Alfredo Morelos has to focus on Rangers, says Gary McAllister. Picture: Craig Foy/SNS

Gary McAllister insists Rangers’ priority concerning Alfredo Morelos is getting the striker “up to speed” for the start of the season amid further speculation about his future.

Everton are the latest club to be linked with the Colombian, who scored 29 goals last season and is contracted to the club until May 2023. Manager Steven Gerrard admitted last week that he did not know if Rangers would be able to hold on to the much-admired player this summer.

Similarly, Ibrox assistant manager McAllister accepts that if a club’s valuation of a player is met, “that player tends to go”. However, all Rangers are currently focusing on is getting the player in peak physical condition with the new league season set to start in under a month.

Rangers then have the second leg of last season’s last 16 Europa League tie against Bayer Leverkusen to negotiate as they seek to battle back from a 3-1 defeat in the home leg.

Morelos will be crucial to these hopes but question marks about his future remain. As well as Everton, he has been linked with other clubs in England including Newcastle United. Interest has also been reported from Italy and Qatar. McAllister has advised Morelos to focus on the challenges to come early in the new campaign.

“Alfredo has to be fully aware that he is a Rangers player and he is under contract here,” said McAllister. “He is part of the team and part of the squad. Our only intention at this moment is to get this player up to speed, like every other player at this club, going into the start of the season.

“The fixtures will be announced on Monday and we also have the game with Bayer Leverkusen coming in quite quickly after that and all the squad are working towards those games.

“I don’t think all the speculation is going to go away,” McAllister added. “Like any player at any club across the entire globe, when there is a bid arrives that the club thinks is the right bid then that player tends to go. But Alfredo is a Rangers player.”

McAllister reported that it was pleasing to see the “the players had worked hard during lockdown”, with this week’s return to full contact training having helped raise intensity levels further.

“We’re delighted to be back in and ever since we were given the green light to go full contact things have been so much better for the players and for the coaching staff,” he said.

“We’d been working in smaller groups and it was okay, we could see the players had worked hard during the lockdown. But over the course of the last two or three days we’ve managed to get back on the football pitch and it’s been enjoyable.”

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