Steven Gerrard has delivered a devastating own goal destroying one of the great Ibrox myths.
Since last January a campaign was launched drumming up interest in Alfredo Morelos build around claims of the Ibrox club rejecting bids ranging from £8-11m from un-named Chinese clubs.
When BBC reporter Kheredine Idessane did some digging into the issue he found no interest in the Colombian striker. After publishing that update he was quickly brought to heel explaining that he had viewed the written offers. Ibrox media manager Jim Traynor is a former presenter on Radio Scotland.
BBC reporter Kheredine Idessane says SORRY to Rangers for claiming there was no Alfredo Morelos bid from China https://t.co/fRrksLSs6e
— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) February 1, 2018
Steven Gerrard described a proposed £8million bid for Alfredo Morelos as “disrespectful” as the Rangers manager again insisted his top goal-scorer was not for sale during this transfer window. https://t.co/IXk70292Bj
— HeraldScotland (@heraldscotland) January 23, 2019
News of Chinese interest in Morelos was greeted with laughter by internet bampots who discovered that there is a 100% tax on transfer fees over £5m for Chinese clubs while the clubs linked with the former HJK Helsinki starlet had no record of spending big in the transfer market.
Similar spin was applied last summer and during the January transfer window but after a 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock Gerrard let slip the true extent of interest in his star striker.
“He is on a four-year contract, we have had one bid for Alfredo since I’ve been Rangers manager and it was for three million euros,” he told The Sun. “Would you expect to see him in the summer if you were me?”
Whether it was a simple mistake by Gerrard or a deliberate bid to undermine the club leadership isn’t known.
So far the former Liverpool youth coach has only been able to add Jordan Jones and Jake Hastie to his squad of serial losers with Greg Stewart likely to be on his way to Ibrox.
With the prospect of a £10m payout due to Sports Direct International and the club’s retail income being frozen it’s highly unlikely that the fabled war-chest will be used for players before pre-season training resumes.
A verdict on the Sports Direct case is expected on June 18.
