IF my many years of being involved in football have taught me anything, it is that you can never say never. Nothing surprised me in this game anymore.

That being said, I don’t think that Rangers can afford to allow Alfredo Morelos to leave the club in this transfer window if they are serious about winning the league.

If he was to go, the only way that the Rangers support would be able to stomach it is if it was for a record fee received by a Scottish club, and then a proven goalscorer was brought in with that money.

I’m sure that the Rangers management team will have someone in mind to bring in should that happen, but that’s a dicey game to be playing at this stage of the season. Who could they get that would guarantee the goals that Morelos brings you?

If it happens at the end of the season, then fine. But this is a man who will score way above 30 goals this season, and every club that wants to win things needs a player like that.

We all know that money talks in football, and if there is a crazy offer of £30m or above, then it might be hard for the men upstairs at Rangers to say no to that kind of cash. But I think it would take a bid of at least £30m to even come close to testing their resolve, and it would have to be early enough in the window for Rangers to source a suitable replacement.

Anything south of that? Absolutely no chance. If Rangers have any aspirations of getting that league title, they have to be stronger than that when it comes to their prize asset.

If a team comes in from down south or elsewhere who are desperate for a proven goalscorer as they chase European football or whatever, then you never know, but Steven Gerrard will certainly not want to lose such an integral figure having done so well to this point.

If anything, in fact, I’d like to see another striker coming in during January.

I think Rangers are pretty well stocked elsewhere in the side. Steven Gerrard has a plethora of midfielders to choose from, he has four centre-backs, he has full-backs that can cover on both the left and right.

My only worry is up top. There has been a lot made of the fact that Rangers have Morelos and Jermain Defoe, two top-class strikers, of that there is no doubt. But while Defoe in the main has had to spend a bit of time on the bench this season, I still worry they are a little bit light in that department.

Morelos will be out for the first few games after the break through suspension, and while Defoe is a more than adequate replacement up there, he really is the only other option. If anything happens to him, then who plays up front?

Added to that, there are no options available to the manager to change things up during a match should things not be going Rangers’ way whenever one of the current two strikers are unavailable.

What I would like to see is a big six-foot-two striker brought in to give Rangers another option. They don’t have that right now.

There is Morelos who is bustling in around people, Defoe who is great at turning defenders and finding space, but there isn’t a target man, that player who can win balls in the air up front.

I’m not saying Rangers should go route one and stop playing football, but sometimes you need that option of someone who when the ball is thrown up to them, it sticks.

There is also the question of forward-planning. Jermain Defoe isn’t getting any younger, despite the fact he still has class in spades, and Alfredo Morelos may very well be off at the end of the season. The manager and Ross Wilson will no doubt be thinking of bringing in a striker at this point to not only provide support to the two that are there already and to give Rangers another string to their bow in attack, but to get bedded in so that they can be ready if called upon for the European qualifiers – whether that be the Champions League or Europa League – that will come early in the summer.

AND ANOTHER THING…

I was sad to hear about the passing of Bobby Brown on Wednesday at the age of 96. He was a true Rangers legend.

That word gets bandied about an awful lot these days, but Bobby was fully deserving of the title.

He was a great goalkeeper for Rangers and he went on to manage Scotland to some great results too.

I saw him a couple of years back at a Rangers function and I sat down and had a chat with him. Even in his 90s, he was still really chatty and could recall lots of great memories of his time at the club. It was fascinating to listen to him and a real pleasure.

He was the epitome really of what a Rangers man should be. He was one of the last of the old traditionalists, who summed up the values of the club.

He was of the ilk that believed a Rangers player wasn’t only representing the club on a Saturday, but at all times. If supporters or just people in general were seeing you around the town, you should have a shirt and tie on and be respectful of what the club stands for.

That was how he behaved and how he brought up his players to behave.

A lot of Rangers fans won’t even have been born when he was around the club, but I’m sure that his memory will be honoured fittingly by the supporters.

Over and above anything else, he was a lovely person and a real gentleman. RIP.