Gio van Bronckhorst has told Alfredo Morelos he has to show him he wants to play for Rangers in order to end his exile.
The striker has been dropped from the squad for Wednesday night’s Champions League playoff showdown against PSV Eindhoven as the Light Blues go head-to-head with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men for a place in the group stage. The tie is finely poised after last week’s 2-2 draw in Govan.
Morelos won’t be involved after his sending off against Hibs at the weekend. However the call to leave him out is based on the Colombian's attitude and fitness levels so far this season rather than a response to his elbow on Marijan Cabraja. Talks over a new contract have also reportedly been put on hold, casting doubts on the 26-year-old’s future at the club. But van Bronckhorst has explained exactly what El Bufalo has to do in order to get himself back in his plans.
He said: “I think he has to show me he wants to play for Rangers. I know he wants to play, but to play for Rangers you need to have a certain level mentally and physically and at the moment I think he is not ready to play.”
Reports earlier today claimed that van Bronckhorst had consulted senior members of the Ibrox dressing room before removing Morelos from the squad. However, the Dutchman insisted that it was a conclusion he reached on his his own.
“No, I made the decision myself,” he said. “Of course we have a leader group and I speak to the leader group quite often to talk about many things. I always keep in contact with them.”
Asked whether the club could have done without this situation ahead of their biggest game in years, van Bronckhorst replied: “Of course! You have to decide who to bring, you see I have many players in my squad I am responsible for, many players who want to play and who work hard and who will do everything tomorrow on the pitch who will do everything to be successful for this team and for this club. For me that’s why I took these 23 players.
“We are very focused. We trained without Morelos the last few days. The players are training well, we prepared for tomorrow. We have had good meetings and tomorrow we will have the final meeting to prepare for PSV. For me it’s a decision I made but I am looking forward to the task ahead tomorrow and my players have the same feeling.”
Gers legend Graeme Souness urged the club to cut their losses with Morelos and sell him after his loss of discipline at Easter Road. And while van Bronckhorst stressed the respect he has for Souness, he confirmed that the issue would be dealt with internally after sending a string signal to the player.
He added: “Well, everybody has their opinion and they’re entitled to it, of course. Graeme is a great man and a great manager who has Rangers in his heart.
“But, as I said before, we will deal with this internally and speak with Morelos and see what happens in the coming weeks. But of course, it’s a signal that he’s not here. And a signal I had to make to Morelos, but also to my team.”
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