Sky Sports News reporter Charles Paterson speaks to former Rangers striker Kenny Miller about Alfredo Morelos’s future at Ibrox and examines Ryan Kent’s downturn in form.
Friday 3 April 2020 13:11, UK
As football struggles to cope with the increasing likelihood of no competitive action for the foreseeable future, clubs and players everywhere are reassessing their forward thinking.
Squad rebuilding plans are on hold, while for some the prospect of a big-money move is diminishing by the day. How this summer's transfer window will operate is unclear, and predictions are unwise until it's known when - or if - leagues will finish.
At Rangers, where there's been a mass turnover of players since Steven Gerrard's arrival nearly two years ago, the situation is particularly cloudy. With little prospect of silverware this season, another re-build looked likely this summer; whether this happens is debatable, due to concerns over funding. Dave King's departure as chairman, and the subsequent delay of a fresh share issue, has cast doubt on whether Gerrard can make additions anytime soon.
The Ibrox balance sheet would be improved by a major sale, and the club's major asset is undoubtedly Alfredo Morelos, but the striker's spectacular loss of form since Christmas has possibly undermined his value.
Morelos' 28 goals before the winter break fired Rangers into the Europa League knockout stages and onto the coat-tails of Celtic in the league, but he has scored just once in 2020 while enduring off-field issues, at the same time that Rangers' bid for trophies has fallen flat.
Former Rangers and Scotland striker Kenny Miller, who played alongside Morelos for a year at Ibrox, still expects there to be suitors for the Colombia international's signature but admits the fee Rangers could once have demanded may now have reduced.
"I don't think the situation around Morelos has changed that much from a year ago, when there was a lot of speculation surrounding his future," he told Sky Sports News. "The first five months of this season, he was in scintillating form, he was scoring a lot of goals, drawing a lot of attention and admiration from all over Europe.
"He had a couple of sending offs just before the winter shutdown, which led to him missing the first few games after the resumption of the league, and that's been coupled with what seems to be a real loss of form, particularly with his goalscoring.
"That's something with Alfredo - he doesn't need to play well to be a goal threat, he can always score goals, but that's really dried up as well. Is that aligned with the fact that the team itself has been toiling as well, or is it the other way around - is the team toiling because Alfredo is struggling?"
He added: "The club's priority now is getting the right price for him. I still think he looks like he probably wants to move; all the signs and noises surrounding him are that he wants to maybe move on and try new thing, which is absolutely fine.
"There's still a job to be done between now and the end of the season for Rangers, if the season gets finished. He needs to concentrate on that and once that's done, then he can look at his future - but the thing for Rangers is that his price might not be quite what it could have been leading into January, for sure.
"It's just a case of getting the right deal for everyone involved; a deal that suits the player that he's happy to go along with, and a deal that suits the club.
"I would expect there would still be interest there; you don't become a bad player overnight. It's only been six or seven weeks, really, since the league started back in January, so it's not as if it's an alarming dip. I'm sure there will still be interest there - at what level, I don't know. I don't think it'll be the figures that were being bandied about three or four months ago."
Cash from Morelos' potential departure, along with the mooted share issue, had been seen by Rangers fans as vital going into the summer transfer market as Gerrard looks to re-enforce a squad that has suffered a dramatic dip in form and results since their Old Firm victory at Parkhead on December 29.
Miller said: "If Alfredo goes, there might be some funds available, but that could be used to cover shortfalls and money lost in this period of time. If he does go, he will definitely need to be replaced, there's no doubt about that.
"Ideally, Rangers want to keep their best players, but I think that particularly in Alfredo's situation, it's been going on long enough now that summer might be the time to get the best possible deal for him and then regroup, replace and strengthen in other areas."
While moving Morelos on could, theoretically, net Rangers a hefty profit, their key summer signing has flattered to deceive since his permanent arrival on the final day of the August transfer window. Ryan Kent cost £7m, becoming the second most expensive Rangers purchase of all time after Tore Andre Flo's £12m move from Chelsea nearly 20 years ago.
Flo was generally regarded as a flop who never lived up to that price tag; Kent, still in the early stages of his career, is not in that category yet, and his output of goals has increased this season, but the winger's production and creativity has dried up. He has not delivered an assist in the Premiership for over a year.
Defenders of Kent argue his relative inexperience still holds him back at the top level; yet the 23-year old has played nearly two full seasons at Ibrox, after various loan spells in the English leagues. Miller, however, thinks the best is still to come.
"What you've got to remember about Ryan Kent is he is a young player," he said. "He came to Rangers last year and took a couple of months to find his form, which is no surprise given the age he is, the size of the club and the demand that's put on him to perform. The Rangers fans don't care what age you are; if you're on the field with a jersey on your back you need to perform, simple as that.
"It took him a little bit of time to get up to speed and get used to his surroundings, and then he lit it up last year - I thought he was absolutely outstanding from October onwards. He was a real shining light in the domestic and European campaigns last year.
"This season, there's been a lot made about his price tag, and that's something that needs to be forgotten about. That's not Ryan Kent's fault, that's a price agreed between two clubs, nothing to do with the player. Does it add extra pressure? I think it does because the club has outlaid a lot of money, and the fans realise that too, but it doesn't take away from the fact he is still a young man near the start of his career - and he's going to have a wonderful career.
"His form has not been quite what everyone would have expected, definitely not me. I think coming back to Ibrox permanently, and knowing what the club is about, knowing the manager, the standards of players… I've seen flashes of his brilliance, but it's not been as consistent as we expected.
"There's no doubt he's going to be a big player for Rangers over the four or five years of his contract, but as always in Glasgow you need to make an immediate impact, particularly with everything that is at stake at the moment."
The struggles of Rangers' two biggest assets since the turn of the year, combined with the uncertainty still hanging over the remainder of the Scottish schedule, could impact upon Gerrard's summer business.
Stepping out of the pressurised limelight of the Glasgow goldfish bowl may actually give Kent the pause for thought he has desperately needed in recent weeks. But what of Morelos?
He was widely expected to leave Scotland this summer after a colourful, and often controversial, stint in the Premiership - but could it be both he and Rangers are almost forced into sticking together for one more campaign, with potential suitors tightening their belts amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic?
If so, Rangers fans and their manager will be hoping for the return of the man who terrorised defences and plundered goals for fun before the break.
