Jonatan Johansson insists Alfredo Morelos would be happy to spend a fourth season at Rangers if the Ibrox club aren’t swayed with a bid for their prize asset this summer.
The Finnish coach played a key role in Morelos’ move to Scotland in 2017 as he recommended the Colombian to Pedro Caixinha after being blown away with his goalscoring instincts at HJK Helsinki.
Three years and 77 goals in Light Blue later Morelos has been tipped for a big money move with Crystal Palace and Newcastle United both heavily linked before football was brought to a halt by the coronavirus crisis.
Rangers MD Stewart Robertson last year valued the 23-year-old in the £20million bracket.
Whether any club could offer anything near that price for the player - who has three years left on his current contract - remains to be seen with football in the grip of a covid crisis.
Asked if he thinks this summer would be the time for Morelos to move, former Rangers striker Johansson told the BBC Scottish football podcast: “It’s difficult with the current situation.
“I think he is ambitious and as with any player he has his price. It will be a price that Rangers will have in mind and (if it is met) they will also be happy to wish him well.
“Of course you want to play in the best leagues but the one thing I know is that he loves to play for Rangers, he loves the fans and 50,000 in Ibrox really excites him.
“So if that bid doesn’t come he will be happy to play for Rangers in the coming season.”
Morelos struck 29 goals in the curtailed campaign but only one of those came in his 11 appearances after the winter break as Rangers saw their title hopes nosedive.
The Colombian’s value to Steven Gerrard ’s team is clear though. And Johansson reckons his team mates have to take their share of the blame for his loss of form.
He said: “Confidence is a big thing and if you lose that a little and the bit of sharpness - he was suspended for the first couple of games after the break - then all of a sudden you haven’t scored in one, two, three and that can have an affect.
“I didn’t think Rangers were playing as well either. A striker is dependent on how the team plays and how many chances they create.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things - the break, the sharpness, confidence and Rangers not playing as well as they did before the break.”
