Alan Brazil: Chinese whispers cast more doubt on future of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos

Alfredo Morelos’ future at Rangers appears to be getting murkier by the day.

The Light Blue legions love him – well, most of them, anyway.

But he has been a source of frustration for his manager, Steven Gerrard, since the Liverpudlian first sat in the manager’s chair inside Ibrox Stadium.

That appears to be coming to a head now.

Why else would Stevie G tell the media that he planned to put the 23-year-old in front of them for the first time since he made his move to Glasgow from HJK Helskinki two years ago?

He hoped that might force the Colombian into addressing in public the speculation over his future that has once again surrounded the striker.

That hasn’t happened, which has only added to the intrigue over why Gerrard would have made the suggestion in the first place.

Sources unknown apparently tipped Sky Sports News the wink that Rangers had received a £15-million bid from Chinese outfit, Hebei Fortune, for Morelos.

The deal supposedly guaranteed the player wages of £30m over three years – but the 23-year-old knocked it back.

If that was the case, Morelos is even more off his head than he was during the last Old Firm match at Celtic Park!

In any case, Rangers have since denied any such offer being received.

And you have to imagine that if it ever was, it would be accepted, whether Morelos wanted £30m in his bank account or not.

As far as I’m concerned, Morelos is a liability whose indiscipline has far outweighed his goals tally.

When the chips are down in big games, he has proved time and again that he’s a serious problem.

Instead of keeping his head and making sure he’s able to do the business where it matters, too often he ends up losing the plot.

Morelos was sent off five times last season. He also collected 18 yellow cards.

That saw him miss 10 games through suspension, plus portions of the five in which he was sent off. And if you look at the games in which Morelos was sent off, there’s a pattern to be found.

The Colombian walked once in a knock-out Europa League game, three times against Aberdeen and once against Celtic.

These are big games – the games where the pressure is on. They are the games where managers need their big players to stand up and be counted.

Morelos seems to struggle on such occasions.

And when the red mist descends, he leaves his team-mates in the lurch.

That’s probably why bigger European teams haven’t been linked with him.

Maybe Morelos’ temper isn’t seen as such an issue in the Chinese league? Even so, Morelos is still young, and there’s no way he should even be considering China. He should be targeting progressing up the ladder in Europe.

But if he can’t sort his disciplinary problems out, he will find himself hammering away at a glass ceiling.

In fact, he might already be there.

Steven Gerrard has spoken a few times about Morelos’ need to improve his behaviour on the pitch.

He hasn’t been properly tested yet in that department this season, having been left on the bench for both Rangers’ away ties in the Europa League.

For there to be any chance of a future for him at Rangers, Morelos must take a leaf out of Jermain Defoe’s book by screwing the nut and focusing on what he does best – scoring goals.

If he does that, then we’ll be talking about a £15m striker.