Rangers reject £16.25m bid for Morelos

LILLE have had their latest offer of £16.25million for Alfredo Morelos knocked back by Rangers.

And the French club are now considering ending their pursuit of the Colombian international amid growing frustration over their failure to agree a fee.

Sportsmail first revealed the Ligue One outfit’s interest in Morelos on July 23.

Reports in France then claimed Lille had agreed terms with the 24-year-old striker and planned to agree a transfer figure with Rangers.

Morelos has since been the subject of four offers in the last six weeks, the most recent of which was worth ¤18m (£16.25m) and was turned down last weekend. While Rangers are believed to value the striker at £20m or more, sources close to the deal claim that Lille still don’t know how much it would take to finalise an agreement.

Lille have since entered advanced talks with Belgian club Gent over a £30m agreement for Canadian

international Jonathan David. And while they are in the market for two strikers after selling Victor Osimhen to Napoli for £55m, figures close to Morelos now fear that their interest is waning. Rangers strengthened their attacking options this week with the purchase of Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten for a combined £6m. The move was expected to herald the departure of Morelos, and Rangers manager Steven Gerrard acknowledged after Thursday’s Europa League defeat at

Bayer Leverkusen that the striker has been affected by all of the speculation. ‘Everyone knows he has had his head turned, there is no denying that,’ said the Ibrox boss, whose team host St Mirren in the Premiership tomorrow. ‘We move forward and my focus is on the team and players who want to be here. If a bid comes that the board likes and the player tells me face to face that he wants to go, then we will see what happens.’ Newcomer Itten is in line to make his Rangers debut tomorrow — but Gerrard has warned the Ibrox faithful they may have to wait a little longer to see Roofe for the first time. Former St Gallen striker Itten has just wrapped up his Swiss league duties by scoring four goals in a 7-0 thrashing of Neuchatel Xamax last Friday. But Roofe has not featured since injuring his calf while playing for Anderlecht in December and needs time to build up his sharpness. Gerrard said yesterday: ‘Cedric is ready to go. He has trained fully, so he is available for the St Mirren game. ‘We’re monitoring Kemar’s situation. He is a week to ten days behind the squad in terms of general fitness.’ Gerrard may also have to hand new goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin a competitive debut with Allan McGregor struggling after Thursday night’s defeat. ‘Allan is a doubt for the weekend,’ said the Rangers manager. ‘We’ll make a decision in the next 24 hours.’