Morelos is Glasgow Rangers’ top scorer this season, with 13 goals in 27 games since moving to Ibrox under Graeme Murty’s predecessor Pedro Caixinha.
Mark Warburton does not share Jim White’s surprise that Rangers have rejected offers for Alfredo Morelos.
Chinese sides Beijing Renhe and Guangzhou Evergrande are said to have tabled bids for Morelos – the highest of which reportedly reached £8 million – six months after he arrived at Ibrox for a fee of around £1 million.
And given Rangers’ financial troubles in recent years, White, speaking on his Talksport show on Thursday morning, finds it hard to believe such a proposition would not be accepted.
Having managed Rangers for the best part of two years, however, Warburton has a different view on the situation.
“Obviously he’s a goalscorer. He’s won over the fans. He has scored some vital goals and showed his quality, the first half of this season. So what message do you want to send out? said the former Nottingham Forest boss.
“If you’re immediately going to sell one of your best players when the first bid comes along you’re going to disillusion many of the Ibrox faithful. So I think it’s a powerful message.
“It’s good that the club could do that, nice to see good players staying in the division, but will they come back [with another bid] – who knows?”
Despite the European transfer window having closed at the end of January, China’s remains open for another four weeks, which means Rangers may not have heard the last of the Super League interest in Morelos.
How much the Ibrox side can hold out for remains to be seen, and with a report in the Scottish Sun suggesting the Colombian could almost quadruple his £7,000-a-week Ibrox wage in Beijing, the player is likely to be tempted should the opportunity present itself.
Can Rangers fend off Chinese interest in Morelos?
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