Alfredo Morelos was nowhere to be seen for Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers on Saturday.
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has explained why he axed Alfredo Morelos from his squad yesterday.
The Colombian international was conspicuous by his absence on Saturday as Gerrard omitted him entirely for the Scottish Cup trip to Hearts.
Suspension meant that Morelos was not required to travel to Portugal for Rangers’ midweek win away to Braga in the Europa League.
And the Gers boss has revealed that he gave the 23-year-old permission to fly home to South America for family reasons, on the agreement that he’d be back by Wednesday.
And Gerrard has said that his decision to snub him for the trip to Tynecastle was borne out of the fact that Morelos returned to Glasgow a day late.
Gerrard told The Scottish Sun: “Alfredo came to me, I’m not sure of the exact date, ten days or so ago and he said his mum wasn’t feeling right so he asked for permission to go back to Colombia.
“Which I granted at the right time and said he could go and sort his family problem out.
“He left after the game on Sunday because he was suspended and I looked him in the eye and said ‘you need to be back on Wednesday’.”
It was a big call by the Rangers boss and considering they wound up being knocked out of the Scottish Cup, a call that is contentious.
But ultimately Gerrard made the right decision. It would’ve sent a terrible message to Greg Stewart, for example, if Morelos disregarded a direct order and still found himself in the first XI yesterday.
Yes, it was a brave move by the light Blues boss but one that he got right.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
