Few would question Alfredo Morelos' importance to the cause on a Champions League night of nights for Rangers.

Simply put - under the lights at Ibrox is where this man puts all else to one side and comes alive.

There’s something about the crackle of the ground’s electricity that pulsates through the striker, turning him into an uber on-pitch carnage creator and veritable goal machine.

In just four years he has eclipsed Ally McCoist as the club’s leading European scorer - no mean feat - especially considering the leading scorer in the club’s history had 15 years to rack up his tally.

He’s shown his class in the Scottish Premiership too, but you’d have to admit with less frequency.

Steven Gerrard joked about his talisman’s propensity for European heroics last season, hinting the platform provided by the European theatre plays into a desire to better himself [and his contract] on a bigger platform than Scotland.

Morelos himself has never hidden his intention to move on to a new challenge when the time is right.

In an era when the glamour and financial riches of football's elite are genuinely life-changing - not just for a player, but often for his extended family too - you could hardly begrudge a boy from Carluke the opportunity to test themselves at the highest level - never mind a kid from Cerete.

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And if Morelos goes - should this transfer window ever heat up beyond tepid - he will leave a legacy that lasts beyond just goals.

For Rangers fans in their teenage years or early twenties, he is the striker of their generation.

While those of us of more advancing years can look back on Ally McCoist, Michael Mols or Nikica Jelavic, the financial turmoil of 2012 suspended a production line of class stretching back decades.

The less said about the years that followed until the Colombian’s arrival the better but let’s just say there weren’t many kids building a genuine emotional connection with some of the journeymen passing through.

With Morelos it was different.

Not only a player capable of magic on the pitch but crucially, personality. Watching him is to see every facet of human emotion displayed to the world. Joyfully, he is an open book.

Happy or sad, frustrated or forceful, committed or can’t really be arsed – if Morelos feels it – so do the crowd that follows his every fascinating move.

And despite the red cards, the fluffed chances in previous seasons against Celtic, late returns from holiday and the occasional madcap antics – he's never stopped being adored.

This summer, like almost every other of his tenure, there is a general suspicion that his time at Ibrox is drawing to a close. But the transfer market is currently stagnant outside the Premier League and nation state-backed outfits like PSG.

Rangers have already shown they won’t let their prize asset leave unless big money is offered which is why they rejected an inviting £16.5m from Lille last summer.

Stricken by financial problems, the Ligue 1 champions won’t be in a position to come back with an offer, but Porto have been watching the striker for a long time and like what they see.

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Both are excellent clubs but you wonder if the Colombian could end up in an even better league.

His skillset of power, pace and dynamism is rare in top-flight football as are his work ethic and battling qualities.

Perhaps it’s a case of being in a larger shop window with more eyes looking for a bargain... 

A stint in the Champions League would offer the striker the grandest stage in football to display his talent to the world.

Why Alfredo loves such a platform is unimportant at the moment, but his desire for it is symbiotic to himself and Rangers.

History tells us that’s a potent combination.