Morelos can be the Gers Goal-den boy
PEDRO CAIXINHA believes Alfredo Morelos will be worth his weight in goals – and gold – to Rangers.
The Columbian striker – a £1m summer capture from HJK Helsinki – notched three times in as many days last week to get his Gers career off to a flyer.
But his manager, who sees comparisons between Morelos and Brazilian ex-Newcastle United star Mirandinha, believes the 21-year-old could end up netting more than just goals for the Ibrox club.
“Alfredo is definitely a goalscorer. He showed that in Finland and already his goal ratio with us is good,” said Caixinha.
“He’s a boy who has anger, desire and passion. He plays for the team and he’s a winner.
“Alfredo will have an important role for us, even when we don’t have the ball. He runs the whole defensive line.
“But we need to give him time because he’s only a young boy. He’s 21 and, so far, he’s looked very good.
“He’ll definitely be worth a lot more money in a few years than we paid for him.
“When he first came here he told me he wants more and he’s willing to fight for more.
“It says a lot about his character that he moved from Colombia to Finland, which is a big change.
“He’s not the type of guy to take a kick from a defender and immediately the defender knows he has him in his pocket.
“Alfredo keeps fighting. And that’s important in Scottish football.
“He knows you need to be a special type of character to perform at Ibrox, but he’s showing that already.
“He’s definitely a boy for the future.
“Goalscorers have to have instinct. In Portugal, we used to talk about a Brazilian striker called Mirandinha. This guy would shoot at goal from wherever he was. Every time he received the ball, he’d have a shot.
“So we call Alfredo ‘Mirandinha’. The other one is ‘Shooter’ because he’s always shooting on goal.”
At 21, Morelos has a few rough edges that still need rounding off.
But Caixinha believes veteran Gers striker Kenny Miller is the ideal mentor for the South American star.
“It’s great that Alfredo can work with Kenny. But he has to learn more English, then they can communicate better,” he said.
“Definitely, Kenny is a guy who coaches on the park and he understands the position so well.
“I believe Kenny is still a No. 9 and he’ll score goals for us. All the strikers will learn from him.”
Meanwhile, Joe Dodoo’s Gers future remains up in the air.
“I’ve told Joe he still has a chance here. I’ve said to him that it’s more up to him than me,” said Caixinha.
“He’s back with us and he has to fight for his position and an opportunity.
“I don’t have a final decision yet because the market is still open.
“But I don’t want to be overloaded with players who might not be an option for us.”