Rangers are set to fend off interest from the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea to sign 15 year-old left back Ashton Scally to his first professional contract.
Gerrard lifts lid on managing Morelos at Rangers
Steven Gerrard revealed he would “turn a blind eye” to Alfredo Morelos at Rangers as he spoke about the challenge of managing the Colombia striker.
The former Liverpool and England captain was boss at Ibrox for three years when the controversial Morelos was a key player.
He scored 17 goals in the 2020-21 season when Rangers claimed the William Hill Premiership title to stop Celtic winning 10-in-a-row.
Morelos goals per season at Rangers (timeless)
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Gerrard said: “Morelos at Rangers was tough to manage. Maverick behaviours. He’d bend the rules.
“When you’re going into a job, you want to try and set rules and have values of your team and stuff like that.
“Sometimes you’d have to bite your tongue and turn a blind eye to one or two, it’s just trying to not get caught by the players when you’re doing it.
“But yeah, he was important to Rangers and I knew he was so important. I knew the time would come where I could get into a place where he’s maybe less important.
“That’s why I brought Jermain Defoe in. That’s why I brought Kemar Roofe in. Because when he was having these periods, where he would be challenging or break your rules and your values, Defoe and Kemar Roofe were itching to play and they were as good as him.”
Gerrard quit the Govan club for Aston Villa in November 2021 and subsequently had a spell as boss of Saudi Pro-League side Al-Ettifaq. With the benefit of hindsight, he expressed regret that he did not stay longer at Ibrox.
He said: “I regret doing it now, sitting here. I didn’t at the time.
“Also the conversations with Rangers after we won it, the recruitment and the finance chats that we were having, didn’t feel like Rangers were ready to go again.
“It was a bit more of a like, ‘oh, let’s settle this and fix that and do that’. The promises weren’t as strong as what I thought they would be.
“Then the Premier League offer and opportunity comes in, it’s tough. It’s tough to say no to Villa, a great club. I have nothing bad to say about them.”
Rangers manager Danny Rohl applauds fans after the match Related
Rangers chiefs set to force David Storch into selling Sheffield Wednesday star who Danny Rohl loves
The Gers are eyeing an "amazing" player.
Rangers fend off Premier League interest for academy starlet
According to Scottish newspaper The Daily Record, Rangers are confident Ashton Scally will pen his first professional contract at Ibrox, despite interest from the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea.
The left-back is set to turn 16 this month, and has also attracted interest from Manchester City, but Rangers have tabled a three-year deal and club chiefs are now confident they will win the race for his signature.
The son of Clyde coach Neil Scally, the teenager has already trained with Danny Rohl's first team and clearly impressed the boss enough to warrant decisive action from 49ers Enterprises.
danny-rohl-rangers
In fact, the Record claim Rohl wanted to include Scally in his squad for their Scottish Cup clash against Annan but were denied because he was still 15, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets in the cups next season.