AC MILAN SPY ON MORELOS BUT NO BIDS YET FOR STRIKER

AC MILAN have become the latest European club to run a scouting check on Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos. The Italian giants are understood to have had a representative at Ibrox for Thursday’s Europa League qualifying win over Progres Niederkorn. However, it remains to be seen whether they intend to progress any interest in the 22-year-old Colombian. Serie A clubs face restrictions over non-EU players and Milan also have to balance their books after agreeing to a ban from this season’s Europa League for a breach of Financial Fair Play rules. Ibrox managing director Stewart Robertson confirmed last week that Rangers had yet to receive any bids

for Morelos, scorer of 30 goals last term. Manager Steven Gerrard has also claimed he would be unwilling to consider a sale late in the window. Meanwhile, Gerrard has hailed the early impact made by George Edmundson and stressed his modest background is no impediment to becoming a Rangers regular. The 21-year-old centre-back, recruited from English League Two side Oldham for a fee of around £650,000, shone in Thursday night’s 2-0 Europa League win over Progres Niederkorn. Swedish international defender Filip Helander cost the Ibrox club £3million from Bologna this summer, a similar fee to that paid to Brighton for Connor Goldson last year. Croatian Under-21 cap Nikola Katic — a £1.5m buy — completes the quartet of centre-backs competing for a jersey. Edmundson (below) may carry a less expensive price tag, but Gerrard is convinced he is up for the fight. ‘We set the challenge to the players on day one,’ said the Ibrox boss. ‘When new players come in, we remind them that every shirt is up for grabs. ‘It doesn’t matter whether you cost X amount or you come cheap or you come free, the shirts are up for grabs on a regular basis. ‘If you’ve got it, it’s yours to lose. ‘If you haven’t got it, it’s yours to fight for. ‘George is putting a helluva fight up. For a lad of 21, it was a very strong performance from him (against Progres), very dominant. ‘You can see he is very quick. ‘I thought he was outstanding for the majority of the game. ‘He gives me some thinking to do but I welcome that. ‘Good players want to challenge themselves. ‘He made it very clear to me when I sat down with him that he felt ready for this. ‘He understood he was coming as a young lad. ‘It is a big step-up. But he made it very clear to me that he is up for the fight. ‘And he has proved that from day one. ‘I haven’t seen an average session from him yet since the first day of pre-season.’