FC Honka striker Juan Alegria has admitted that he is ‘finalising’ a January move to Rangers with the Colombian expected to follow in Alfredo Morelos’s footsteps at Ibrox, as reported by the Daily Record.
Whether the fresh-faced centre-forward can emulate the impact made by his compatriot on the blue half of Glasgow remains to be seen, of course.
Morelos has been nothing short of a revelation since moving to Scotland in a £1 million deal three years ago, scoring 30 and 29 goals in the last two seasons respectively, with Steven Gerrard’s side overtaking Celtic to become the most formidable side in the country along the way.
Like Morelos, Alegria will join Rangers after making a name for himself in Finland, having scored four times in ten matches for FC Honka this term.
Alfonso Alegria, the striker’s father and agent, told El Diario on Tuesday that a deal was ’90 per cent’ done, and now the player himself has broken his silence.
“Together, with my family, we are studying and finalising details to transfer me to Rangers – a great team who are the best in Scotland and highly recognised in European football,” Alegria explained, before announcing his desire to emulate two of Colombia’s greatest exports.
“As a striker, I believe to match the achievements of players like Radamel Falcao and Duvan Zapata – players I admire for everything they have done in Europe – I will need to work very hard.
“Someday I would like to talk to them so they can share their experiences of being great scorers both in Europe and in the Colombian national team.
“I got a move to Finland because I was called up for the Colombian Under 17s team for a tournament in Chile and managed to score a few goals for them. Those goals I scored helped get me a move to Europe.
“When I moved to FC Honka, they gave me my debut. Thank God I managed to sign for such a club where they gave me a lot of minutes to play.
“But I am well aware that I must continue working and learning because football can change on a daily basis.”
It remains to be seen what sort of a role Alegria will have at Ibrox.
Could he eventually replace Morelos in Gerrard’s starting XI, with the former HJK Helsinki star making no secret of his desire to play in one of Europe’s top leagues sooner rather than later?
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