Former Celtic striker and Sky Sports pundit, Craig Beattie, has claimed that Rangers will have to strengthen their forward line in the January transfer window as reported by The Daily Record.
Beattie, in his role with Sky Sports, was asked about the form of the two talismans and how much they meant to each club.
When asked about the two strikers and their respective clubs, Beattie was full of praise of Alfredo Morelos when he said:
“The goals Alfredo Morelos has been scoring – not just the numbers but the quality – has been absolutely exceptional. His disciplinary record appears to have been sorted and now he’s free-scoring. The standard is fabulous. 22 goals in 19 starts, that’s 11 in Europe as well”.
“Alfredo Morelos is doing it on all fronts and has been a real find for Rangers. To mention Jermain Defoe, we’ve been singing Alfredo Morelos’ praises but Defoe’s actually got more league goals than Morelos which is quite unbelievable considering Morelos has played more games”.
“Celtic need to strengthen in January. Both need to strengthen if I’m being honest. Rangers need to strengthen in terms of numbers because if something was to happen to Morelos then you’re relying on Defoe to play all the matches but Celtic really need to strengthen if something was to happen Edouard”.
“One or possibly two strikers”.
Rangers would only need to strengthen their forward line in January if they suffer an injury or the club receives a ridiculous offer for Morelos.
Steven Gerrard has already stated that he is “100 % sure” that the Colombian international is going nowhere and Jermain Defoe is content with his supporting role, so much so that he is reportedly looking to extend his stay at Ibrox beyond this year.
In terms of quality, who would want to sign for a club knowing that they would struggle to see the first-team? Defoe is currently the top goalscorer in the Scottish Premiership, while Morelos has 22 goals in 26 games and their rotation has been managed perfectly by Gerrard so far this season.
There is also Greg Stewart, who normally plays as a support striker, could also be called upon in an emergency in the unlikely event that both Morelos and Defoe were unavailable, having featured 24 times in that role over the course of his career according to Transfermarkt. To go along with that, the former Aberdeen ace is someone who’s bagged 34 times in the Scottish Premiership, so is experienced enough to rely on in a worst-case scenario.
Beattie may have a point about Celtic needing reinforcements given that Odsonne Edouard is their only fit striker but the same cannot be said about Rangers who have ample numbers through the middle and in wide areas of the attack, if anything, they are spoilt for choice.
Rangers fans, does he have a point? Join the discussion by commenting below…
