Morelos to leave before the end of February [Rocksport Radio]

[Lloyd 10,756]

Alfredo Morelos demanding pay rise on £7,000-a-week Rangers deal

By Stephen Mcgowan For The Scottish Daily Mail 01:49, 02 Feb 2018, updated 01:49, 02 Feb 2018

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos was subject to interest from Beijing Renhe

They offered £8million for 21-year-old, but Rangers opted to keep him at Ibrox

He is on less than £7k a week at Rangers, and player now wants a pay rise 

Morelos' camp are now seeking talks as a matter of urgency following window

Alfredo Morelos is demanding a pay rise after Rangers rejected bids worth £8million from Chinese suitors Beijing Renhe.

The 21-year-old striker, who was an unused substitute in Wednesday night's Scottish Cup win over Fraserburgh, is one of the lower paid first-team players at Ibrox on less than £7,000 a week.

And the Colombian's agents now want talks with Rangers director of football Mark Allen next week after the club rejected three life-changing offers for the forward from the Chinese Super Leagueclub.

Alfredo Morelos was an unused substitute for Rangers' win over Fraserburgh on Wednesday

The club rejected three life-changing offers for the forward from China's Beijing Renhe

Discussions about an increase in wages for Morelos were always planned between Allen and the striker's representatives.

However, the player's camp are now seeking talks as a matter of urgency after interim manager Graeme Murty conceded that Morelos had been left 'confused' by recent events.

With the Chinese transfer window open until February 28, Morelos could *still* make the move.

But Rangers believe he can increase his value substantially if he finishes the season as Scotland's top scorer and breaks into the Colombian national team.

'I've made that decision, I want Alfredo to be here,' said boss Murty after the 3-0 win over Fraserburgh.

'We have to make sure Alfredo understands our position because we are not trying to derail anything for him, we are just trying to take care of him and the club at the same time.

'We believe we can do that, we believe we can get him to the next level.'

Provided Morelos now gets his head straight and adds to the 13 goals he's already scored for the team, the Colombian World Cup squad becomes a realistic ambition.

Morelos is now understood to want an increase on his current deal, worth less than £7k a week

In that instance, lucrative offers will continue to arrive.

More immediately and more importantly as far as his team-mates are concerned, though, putting the issue on the back-burner for the time being can only bode well for a team slowly building momentum.

'We're glad he's staying,' said Josh Windass, the hat-trick hero against Fraserburgh at Bellslea Park. 'He's obviously a good player, he's a goal-scorer.

'He's top scorer in the league and he's done really well since coming to Rangers.

'Nobody wants to lose a goalscorer.

'Morelos is a good lad, all the boys get on well with each other. We've got good banter and it's a really good dressing room.

'The window is now closed so we know what we're going with for the remainder of the season. I think we're in a better place now.'

Morelos' representatives have asked for urgent talks to improve the young striker's deal

On and off the field, January was a good month for Rangers. Victories over Aberdeen, Ross County and Fraserburgh were coupled with the additions of Russell Martin, Jamie Murphy, Sean Goss and Jason Cummings.

Keeping Morelos in the face of eye-watering offers from China added to the sense that momentum finally building around the club.

A season that started in humiliation with defeat to Progres Niederkorn could yet offer much at its denouement. Seven years since the club last lifted a major trophy, the Scottish Cup seems a realistic proposition.

'The aim is obviously to try and get to the final and lift the trophy,' Windass added.

'It's been a long while since we won a major trophy and all the players who are here at the moment know that.

'That's what we're trying to do, though. We want to be part of history and we want to win trophies for the club because the fans deserve that. We are all committed and we all believe we can do that.'

[jjbscotty12 3,560]

Should be given one tomorrow.

[orange&blue92 1,284]

Give the lad a pay rise and stick a high buyout clause in there

[Inigo 32,526]

Yeah, quite right too.

[MasterD 7,435]

No problem with that. If his wage is true then he’s earning less than some squad players.

Pay him on level with the important players with an extra couple of years on his contract.

Don’t need any minimum fee release before the football manager loyal start demanding one. Unless his agent asks for one it’s not something we should even mention.

[Essandoh 21,207]

It should already be on the table. Future market value aside, he absolutely deserves one. Give him an extension, give him a wage rise and some new target bonuses, and let him know that he’s wanted here.

There will definitely be money there to provide him with one. The inevitable summer clearout makes it a no-brainier.

[BridgeIsBlue 66,606]

Give him it with a three year extension.

[K.A.I 36,183]

Can see his point especially if he was getting offered almost 30k after tax from China 

if we want to keep the top talent then we need to reward them and pay them accordingly 

it also helps us command a premium as he’s tied down to a longer deal so a new contract could suit both of us 

[hammer93 15,057]

43 minutes ago, K.A.I said:

Can see his point especially if he was getting offered almost 30k after tax from China 

if we want to keep the top talent then we need to reward them and pay them accordingly 

it also helps us command a premium as he’s tied down to a longer deal so a new contract could suit both of us 

We have kinda backed ourselves into a corner with this one.....if we knocked back 8million trying to hold out for 10million then he can rightly demand to be the highest paid player at the club as he is now our most valuable asset.....offer him a new 3 and a half year deal and put his money up to 16k, at least we are backing up his value when we eventually move him on....plus their is a danger with every player nowadays of him throwing the toys out the pram to force a move b4 the Chinese window closes.

[TMB 14,167]

A new and improved 5 year contract should be put in front of him.  While we're at it, offer one to Tavernier too.  We need to tie our best players down for the long-term.

[Billy1984 6,314]

Absolute no brainer. Get it done with all of our best players and strengthen our position.

[siddiqi_drinker 14,635]

Pay the guy what he's worth but I take most of this China stuff, especially what the media print, as a load of shite.  Today he's going to Beijing whereas yesterday it was G'zhou, wish they'd make up their minds.  

[Bad Robot 21,149]

Yes, I know players get win bonuses etc but do individual players get bonuses if they score or is that unfair as strikers would naturally score more than defenders ?

[Gazzalivesforever 1,987]

He's on less than half of Jordan Rossiter. Give the wee man a pay rise.

[BlearyEyedBear 4,148]

Show him the money! 

[pcbear 10,913]

He came here untried in British football from Finland where his wages at a guess would have been meagre 1-2k ? so he had a massive increase to come here, he has since more than proved his worth and deserves parity with the club earners who produce little for lots of dough, if we never went down the last pay cheque big money route of Alves and Nico again that would be just fine. spreading it about to the guys that can do the business.

[novosleftboot 6,285]

3 hours ago, orange&blue92 said:

Give the lad a pay rise and stick a high buyout clause in there

What is it with this recent obsession some of our fans seem to have with buyout clauses? They are in no way shape or form of any benefit to the club. Unless the player demands one, we shouldn't even consider adding one.

[Tenerife Bear 1,748]

Been here 5 mins and won or achieved fuck all yet. Something tells me this isn't going to end well and should have sold when the £8m was on the table. 

[Ger_onimo 20,488]

43 minutes ago, novosleftboot said:

What is it with this recent obsession some of our fans seem to have with buyout clauses? They are in no way shape or form of any benefit to the club. Unless the player demands one, we shouldn't even consider adding one.

It’s not even recent. I don’t even bother questioning it anymore, after about 5 years of repeatedly explaining that it benefits the player, not the club.

[Davy Vandenbroucke 26,148]

7 minutes ago, Tenerife Bear said:

Been here 5 mins and won or achieved fuck all yet. Something tells me this isn't going to end well and should have sold when the £8m was on the table. 

[pcbear 10,913]

1 minute ago, Bronzy said:

Thats what he looked like up at Fraserburgh.

[MrMckee 3,420]

Give him it it's not asking for a stupid amount and we will make a lot of money off him 

[SeparateEntityMyArse 53,715]

Firstly, not a single quote from the agent who is alleged to be demanding urgent talks..... 

This is standard business in football where contracts are made but if a player does well it is renewed in favour of both parties. He came here at a certain price and was paid accordingly, which he was happy with at the time.

In 6 months that value has rocketed due to performances and it's right and only natural that both sides look at what this means in their interests.

If we can't pay him what an 8m player in Scotland deserves then we have a problem. And one we need to find a solution for. If we can find and afford the salary then we get the contract extended too in a way we deem suitable to us, ie add year(s) to it, buy out clauses etc.

This article has suggested an urgency probably to try to say the player is now unsettled, mere days after the closure of the window. I think the dust needs to settle on it all and I'm confident MA will turn his concentration rightly from transfer dealing to the contracts of the current squad not just AM that need reviewed.

 

[LaudrupsPatrickBoots 13,510]

No brainer. Should be on at least double that.

[1690tamRFC 5,001]

A new deal at this point will benefit both player and club for me, as long as he agrees to a large contract extension for the improved wages then it puts us in a commanding position when future bids come in for him. No brainier really