I can’t believe I’m saying this but Rangers will now be asking themselves ‘do we really want to re-sign Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent?’ It’s a viable question because first and foremost the club has to weigh up what it’s going to take to keep them.
For both it will be a minimum three-year deal and probably for improved terms on top of what will already be a good pay packet within the Rangers wage structure. Based on what we are seeing form wise at the moment then it’s a huge question. I said a few months ago that a bit of security might be the key for Kent to rediscover his best form because he’s been well short this season.
Alfredo too needs to do so much more if he’s to budge Antonio Colak because the Croatian looks like he’s absolutely loving life at Ibrox and scoring goals for fun. It’s stick or twist time and Rangers may want to protect their investment and offer more cash to get both players tied down in the hope of them rediscovering their form and selling for £10-£12m in a year or two. But it’s only a few weeks until both players are allowed to speak to other clubs and it’s a huge question whether they should cut their losses if a January bid comes in.
Rangers will have a value placed on these players but I don’t hear of a lot of clubs sniffing around them right now. Absolute best case scenario I can’t see them getting more than a couple of million for them with six months left on their contracts. Maybe that would tempt them to sell. But a year or two ago you could have put a one in front of that sum for both.
The biggest indicator of the situation for me is that there’s no real outcry among the support at the players’ contract situations. If this was two seasons ago then everyone would be panicking if both had six months left on their deals. But now? I actually don’t sense much panic at all. You’re seven weeks or so away from the moment when they can talks to other clubs.
And by the way if in the players’ and their representatives heads they are going to leave on a free next summer then I’d expect the conversation will already have started. The Champions League group stage was a real shop window for Morelos and Kent up against the top teams. But they sold themselves short. If Alfredo wants to get the move he maybe pines for then he needs to show more. At the moment the options he has may be diminished.
Would Rangers take a million for him? That might be better than nothing with six months left on his deal but you have to weigh it against his value to the team in the last five months of the season. Rangers have had great service from Alfredo over the last five years, some great goals, a league title, a Scottish Cup and they’ve been to the Europa League Final.
But there’s no doubt he needs to up his game right now. Previous to this season he has pretty much had it his own way and been the main man at Rangers. He needs to feel he’s the main man to play at the top of his game. But at the moment he’s not. Colak has come in and hit the ground running. Fourteen goals in 22 games is fantastic. It doesn’t look like Alfredo has reacted in the best way to that challenge. He needs to do more. Simple as that.
It’s not a case of ‘when is Alfredo coming back?’ any more. When he was missing in other seasons he’d be straight back into the line-up because the team missed him. He’s had Roofe, Defoe, Itten, all these guys trying to take the jersey off him and not managed because Alfredo’s performances have been better. At the moment someone else is doing a job that’s better than he’s done when he gets the opportunity.
Every single day on the training pitch he has the chance to show that he’s not accepting being second choice that he desperately wants that shirt back. Then when he gets his time on the pitch he needs to show he’s at the level to play regularly. The evidence shows he’s not fully match fit. The chances he missed against Napoli and Ajax, when he’s fully firing those are goals.
The same goes for Kent. He’s not performing at the levels he was two seasons ago. That’s there for all to see. There was a 15 minute spell on Tuesday night where he seemed to come to life and a belief. But it’s just not been consistent enough. I look back now not just at the player but the human being. This is his third full season after being on loan and he might fancy a change. Maybe he was disheartened when that didn’t come up in August.
But he is way more capable of what we’re seeing at the moment. But like Alfredo these guys are paid to do a job for the fans who are paying good money to see their most exciting players perform. Last season in the Europa League every one of these players were living at the top of their game. If they weren’t they wouldn’t have beaten teams like Dortmund and RB Leipzig.
The Champions League gave them the chance to boost their value and prove to top teams they are capable of playing at the very top level. Unfortunately nobody has taken that chance. Rangers face three massive games before the World Cup break where maximum points is a must. It starts at St Johnstone today. The Champions League has gone and I said last week they’ll be relieved as they can concentrate on the bread and butter of the league now.
This is where Gio will really be judged - whether they go and win the league back. Rangers should win in Perth and win comfortably. Even with their injury problems. But will it be as easy as that? No chance. To date they’ve had three maybe four league performances that got fans excited, I’m thinking Aberdeen last week, Hearts away, Ross County and maybe St Johnstone at Ibrox. Out of 12 games that’s not good enough. Rangers were excellent against Aberdeen last week and it should have been seven or eight one.
But let’s not kid ourselves, that result was aided by the way Aberdeen set up at Ibrox. They were wide open and played right into the hands of Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala. One thing for sure is that St Johnstone won’t do that. They will probably be more like Livingston a few weeks ago - sit deep, don’t let them through you, force Rangers wide and deal with the crosses.
Callum Davidson’s side are in good form and might fancy they can nick a goal against a Rangers defence that’s nowhere near their strongest. Rangers absolutely need to win because Celtic are showing signs that they’re back on form. They’ve found that energy and life to their attack again. Rangers can’t drop points especially as they are playing on the Sunday and I fully expect by that point Celtic will have stretched their lead to seven points by beating Dundee United. It’s another huge test of their mindset.
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