Steven Gerrard has admitted that Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos has ‘had his head turned’ amid speculation linking him with Everton and West Bromwich Albion, speaking to BT Sport (6 August, 8:00pm).
If the Glasgow giants had any chance of beating Bayer Leverkusen by three clear goals in their own back yard, they needed their Colombian talisman to be at the top of his game on Thursday night.
But, while Rangers bombed out of the Europa League with a 1-0 defeat in Germany, Morelos was far more lethargic than lethal, bullied out of the game by the brilliant Leverkusen centre-half Edmond Tapsoba.
The former HJK Helsinki striker failed to produce a shot on goal during 76 minutes on the pitch and, while service was most certainly lacking, Morelos didn’t help himself with some truly shoddy hold-up play.
He looked distracted, lacking the focus and fire which made him arguably the Europa League’s most feared striker in 2019.
“Everyone knows he’s had his head turned,” said Gerrard after a 4-1 aggregate defeat.
“If a bid comes that the board like, and if the player tells me face-to-face he wants to go, we’ll see what happens. My focus is on the team and the players that want to be here.”
The Daily Record reported last week that West Brom were hoping to make Morelos their new record signing in a £17 million deal while Everton and Newcastle United are also interested (AreaNapoli in June).
But, with just one goal in 14 games since that red card against Celtic in December, Morelos is perhaps fortunate to still have so many suitors.
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