Alfredo Morelos aims to secure Colombia place with good form at Rangers

20 June 2017 05:39

Alfredo Morelos aims to hit the ground running at Rangers - and then springboard into Columbia's World Cup squad.

The 20-year-old sealed his £1million switch to Ibrox from HJK Helsinki on Monday and now aims to match the strike rate that saw him score 52 goals in just 86 outings in Finland.

The deadly poacher has already represented Columbia at youth level.

And he believes if he can find the net as regularly as he he did at his previous club, he can join Monaco hitman Falcao and Real Madrid star James Rodriguez in the South American team as they prepare for Russia 2018.

Morelos told RangersTV: "Of course - I'm clear about this objective for good reasons - the Colombian national team is everything. It would be a great joy to be selected for the senior team - every player wants to experience it.

"So yes, it's something I want and the day it happens - because I know it will - I'll make the most of it like the big players we have in the national team like Falcao, James, Juan Cuadrado. There's an unbelievable squad of players who represent our country."

Morelos made the switch from his homeland last year when he joined HJK from boyhood club Independiente Medellin.

He quickly proved his worth, netting 30 goals in his first season in Scandinavia and joins Gers having hit another 17 during the current Finnish season.

But he admits finding the net in Scotland will not be so easy.

"I know the league here is very competitive - more so than in Finland," he said.

"So it's a bit harder and is more complicated. I don't have a target as yet - I'm a player who is really mentally prepared in a lot of ways so I'll take each game that I play in as it comes. Every time there's an opportunity to score a goal, I will do it constantly.

"I know that the supporters are really incredible - they come to support the team in every game and you always have to respect that and to make them happy by winning. I know it's not possible to win every game but it's important to make the fans happy and to finish top of the league.

"I know it's a lot of pressure. I know it's very different here to the games I played in Finland - the pace of the game - it's all different. But I'm mentally prepared for it.

"It was important for my career because I've come from a club where there was the opportunity to play in Europe so I'm pleased to have that continuity."

Morelos will get the chance to make his Gers debut when the club ends its six-year stint in the European wilderness by taking on Europa League qualifying opponents Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg.

UEFA has confirmed the first leg will take place at Ibrox on June 29, with the return scheduled to be held at the Stade Josy Barthel on July 4.

And the Light Blues' new frontman is looking forward to the clashes after sampling continental action with Helsinki.

"I was at one of the biggest clubs in Finland and I had the opportunity to play in the Finnish league, the Finnish Cup and the qualifying rounds of UEFA," he said. "In the first qualifying match I scored two goals, so it started well.

"Teams saw what I was doing and they saw my development - all of this attracted their attention but in the four or five games I played, it was excellent for me - I was in good form - I was hungry and I loved playing every match.

"The league games were interesting as well but the UEFA games were more important and I sacrificed more to show what I could do, to do things well and to focus on scoring goals and this is something that helped my career.

"I'm really happy about it. I want to show this at Rangers too.

"It's a really big club which has opened its doors to me and put their faith in me. I want to show off more of my talents, characteristics and my football. The stadium is huge and beautiful. Everything I've seen is unbelievable so I hope to score a lot of goals here and to have the whole stadium celebrating."

Source: PA