RANGERS have been put on Old Firm red alert with Colombia boss Reinaldo Rueda considering handing Player of the Month Alfredo Morelos an international recall that would see him miss the Parkhead showdown against Celtic next month.
Morelos has been revitalised by the arrival of new Ibrox boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst and has scored four goals in his last five matches earning him the cinch Premiership Player of the Month for December.
The 25-year-old has been previously cast into the international wilderness by Rueda, who appeared not to rate him after he was almost ignored during the Copa America summer tournament.
Morelos played just nine minutes of Colombia’s seven games in the Brazil tournament and hasn’t been seen since in subsequent World Cup qualifiers. Colombia even picked nine strikers in their squad ahead of him for their November qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay.
They face a crucial double-header against Peru on January 28th and Argentina on February 1 – just hours before the second Old Firm clash of the season in Glasgow.
They are currently locked in fourth place with Peru, with Chile and Uruguay a point behind. Only the top four qualify for Qatar 2022.
However, Colombia look certain to be without Atalanta star Duvan Zapata, who is expected to be out for several weeks with a stomach injury and that looks set to open the door for Morelos.
The South American nation are currently hosting a training camp for domestic-based players in the USA before inviting their overseas stars for the two World Cup qualifiers.
And reports in Colombia have suggested that Rueda has indicated he will make a decision at whether to recall Morelos, after being impressed with his recent performances for Rangers, or call up another Atalanta striker, Luis Muriel.
That would mean Morelos would miss Rangers’ away games at Ross County and Celtic in what would be a huge blow to the Ibrox side.
He has won 11 caps for the South American nation, scoring once in a friendly against Peru two years ago.
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