ALFREDO MORELOS will either sign on or be sold off. Time will tell if the coming months are to prove the final ones in his remarkable Rangers career.

Between now and the end of the campaign, Giovanni van Bronckhorst needs Morelos to do his talking on the park. If the champions are to defend their title, the striker must lead from the front.

Off the field, the conversations will largely be left to Morelos’ representatives and Ross Wilson, the Rangers sporting director. They will determine what the future holds on both sides.

Morelos, of course, will set the mood and direct the traffic. It will ultimately be down to him whether he wishes to extend his stay at Ibrox or finally head for pastures new.

The Colombian may be contracted to Rangers until the summer of 2023 but the champions cannot allow him to enter the final 12 months of that deal. Once he does so, their bargaining power is weakened substantially and Morelos will hold even more of the cards.

Rangers will lose Connor Goldson – one of the stalwarts of the team and one of the most valuable assets on paper – for free at the end of the campaign as he gets set to return to England after four successful seasons in Scotland.

Goldson should be thanked and appreciated for his efforts, but it must sting that Rangers won’t receive a penny for him when he is in the prime of his career and could command a significant fee in the market.

Such situations cannot be allowed to materialise more than once and that is why Morelos must decide sooner rather than later what his plans are for the short and medium term. If he is not fully committed to Rangers, the call will have to be taken out of his hands.

If he does opt to move on, then the task of replacing Morelos will be no easy one for Rangers. It is wrong to class Van Bronckhorst’s side as a one man team, but there is no doubt that they are a far more effective and cohesive unit when the 25-year-old is leading the line.

It was no coincidence that his return to action coincided with such a clinical showing against Hearts and a fit and firing Morelos will be crucial to Rangers’ title aspirations.

Rangers have never – whether it was under Steven Gerrard’s guidance or now during Van Bronckhorst’s reign – looked the same side when Morelos has been out of the team or out of form. Several understudies have been brought in, but nobody has been able to truly fill the boots of Morelos in terms of style and scoring.

He has been a rejuvenated figure since Van Bronckhorst’s appointment and he look sharper – both technically and mentally – right now than at many times during his Ibrox career. Whatever the spark has been, Morelos and Rangers should continue to benefit from it going forward.

"It is very important [not to rely too heavily on one player]," Van Bronckhorst said as he reflected on the victory over Hearts – during which Morelos scored twice – on Sunday. "Of course, Morelos is important for our play, as you saw against Hearts, and the link-up play and his runs and his presence in the 18-yard box.

"The threat we had on Sunday was in different areas, you saw different goal scorers. Morelos two but also three different other scorers and that is what you want.

"You want a team that is capable of creating chances, not only from players up front but also from midfield players. That is very important in our game.

"I haven’t had a chat with him about his long term future but he is definitely a player who is important for us and for the club as well. He is enjoying his football at the moment.

"If your player is out of contract after next season, of course the talks will happen somewhere this year to see what the future is for both sides.

"But I am happy with Morelos and happy with the performances that he is putting in on the pitch.

"More than happy with him. Contract wise, somewhere this season I think talks will begin."

The situations are the same with the likes of Filip Helander, Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent and the conversations with Morelos will be replicated with several members of Van Bronckhorst’s squad between now and the summer.

Rangers are already gearing up for a major window of wheeling and dealing and a substantial rebuild of the squad looks to be on the cards.

Morelos could well lead the exodus. If he does leave, it will be a moment of regret for a support that have cherished and castigated him in equal measure during a rollercoaster five seasons at Ibrox.

It is unlikely that Morelos and those that look after his interests would have foreseen him being in Glasgow for as long when he moved from HJK Helsinki in the summer of 2017.

Morelos has, as expected, made his name with Rangers but the quick flip for a tidy profit plan hasn’t happened yet as interest – most notably from Lille, who had a £16million bid turned down ahead of Rangers’ title winning campaign – hasn’t been strong enough to tempt Rangers into doing business.

The ambition was once to recoup around £20million for Morelos but that hope seems far-fetched right now given a market that is still recovering from Covid and his contract situation and Rangers will have to settle for a smaller fee should they choose to cash in at the end of the season.

Purely in terms of the model of buying low, developing for a couple of seasons and then selling high, Morelos has probably overstayed his time in Scotland and it would be a surprise if the next project player has such a long service on his track record.

Circumstances and successes have ultimately shaped Morelos’ Rangers career. They will now determine his future and whether he stays or goes.

He will one day have a price put on his head once again. First and foremost, Van Bronckhorst needs Morelos to have another medal around his neck this term.