Rangers attacker Alfredo Morelos could be an option West Ham consider during their hunt to sign new forwards this summer, according to Sun journalist Paul Jiggins.
Claret & Hugh previously reported that Manuel Pellegrini was on the hunt for new attackers during the rest of the transfer window as he wanted to replace Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez.
With Marko Arnautovic also confirmed to have exited the London Stadium, Jiggins claimed that one of the alternative options the Hammers could consider was Rangers’ Morelos.
“It’ll be interesting to see who they will bring in, Maxi Gomez of Celta Vigo, that could be a goer and come in and replace him,” said Jiggins on talkSPORT (14:22, Monday, July 8th).
“And we’re hearing sort of north of the border as well is that Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos could be an alternative as well, but Steven Gerrard has ruled that one out, but we’ll see what happens.”
OPINION
The national journalist has heard that the Hammers could be interested in Morelos and didn’t seem to rule out a deal despite Steven Gerrard making it clear he wasn’t keen on the 23-year-old leaving Ibrox. Gerrard suggested it would take a “really, really big offer”, as quoted by BBC Sport, for Rangers to sell Morelos in this window, and that sort of stance makes it sound like it won’t be easy for the Hammers to get a deal done. Morelos scored 30 goals in 48 appearances for the Gers in his 2018/19 campaign and also racked up eleven assists. However, West Ham have to tread carefully over any interest they may have in the forward for two reasons. Firstly, Morelos’ disciplinary record is concerning. The Columbian forward got four red cards and 11 yellow cards during his latest season, across the 51 outings he made for club and country (Source: Soccer Base). So if he was recruited, could the Hammers trust him to stay on the pitch for 90minutes or not spend a notable portion of his campaign suspended? Clearly, the answer is no. The other thing that the Hammers will have to consider, is whether he is good enough for the Premier League. Morelos has only ever excelled in Finland and Scotland’s top-flight, and those leagues are not known for being as good as England’s top division.
