CHRIS Sutton has questioned whether Alfredo Morelos is ready to move to the Premier League – but predicted that working alongside Jermain Defoe will help the Rangers striker sort out his suspect temperament.

Ibrox front man Morelos, who is the leading goalscorer in Scotland this season after netting 20 goals in all competitions, last month reiterated his desire to play in the top flight in England one day.

Former Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea and Aston Villa centre forward Sutton is an admirer of the player, who French club Nice are preparing to table an £8 million bid for.

However, he feels the fiery Colombian centre forward, who has been sent off twice and booked 14 times in the 2018/19 campaign, must mature before he can play his trade at the highest level down south.

But the BT Sport pundit reckons the arrival of the vastly-experienced Defoe on loan from Bournemouth will be invaluable for the 22-year-old.

Speaking at a promotional event for The Sportsman’s Perfect 10 game, Sutton said: “Do I think Morelos would cut it in the English Premier League? At this moment in time, I still think he’s in a development stage and I think he’d admit that himself.

“If he sorts out his temperament, I think there is a player in there. But I can’t honestly sit here and say, hand on heart, that’s going to happen. He has to prove that himself.

“He punched the ball into the net against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night. I didn’t think that was necessarily sensible. Ultimately, it’s been like that this season. I think he’s been sent off three times this season.

“There comes a time in a player’s career when they have to think about the consequences of their actions. While it’s good to be on the edge, you have to have that element of control.

“Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister, great players as they were, will be in his ear all the time. But there has to be responsibility. A lot of times this season with Morelos, whether you like it or not, it’s been self-destruct.”

Sutton added: “You would think a player going in like Jermain Defoe, that may be the making of Morelos in terms of his mindset.

“Steven Davis too, and the way they’ve looked after themselves and the way they conduct themselves. Someone like him I’m sure would look up to them and take a lot from them.”

Glasgow Times:

Meanwhile, Sutton has claimed Rangers’ new formation backfired against Kilmarnock this week and suggested Ibrox manager Gerrard has a big decision to make about whether to persevere with it before his side’s crucial meeting with Livingston away on Sunday.

Gerrard abandoned his 4-3-3 set-up in the Ladbrokes Premiership match at Rugby Park on Wednesday night and went with a 4-4-2 in order to get new loan signings Davis and Defoe as well as Morelos on the pitch.

Former Celtic striker Sutton, who was working as a pundit for satellite broadcaster BT Sport at the match, felt the new system worked well for the opening 20 minutes, during which time the visitors took the lead through Defoe.

But he thought using a midfield diamond ultimately played into the hands of the Steve Clarke’s team, who drew level when Eamonn Brophy scored in the first-half and then edged in front when Jordan Jones netted in the second.

He believes Gerrard is keen to get Davis and Defoe, who are being paid big wages after joining on loan from Southampton and Bournemouth respectively, and Morelos, who has scored 20 goals in all competitions in the 2018/19 campaign, into the same side.

“The margin for error isn’t great,” he said. “They have put themselves under pressure and can’t afford many more slip-ups really. It piles the pressure on.

“To get Defoe and Davis into the team on Wednesday night they played a different way,” he said. “The issue they may have is getting Defoe and Morelos into the side. They are paying Defoe big wages and Morelos is their star man. They have to get the two of them into a team in a formation that suits Rangers.”

Asked if he thought the new formation worked, Sutton said: “It didn’t, no. For 20 minutes I thought they were brilliant. I thought when Kilmarnock got the goal back Rangers never really recovered from that.

“I like (Ryan) Kent a lot, (Daniel) Candeias came off the bench and did well. A lot of their success this season has been because their wide players have been good. If they are playing a diamond are they getting the best out of Kent and Candeias?

“Steven Gerrard has got some thinking to do. If it comes down to him having to play with one striker which striker is it going to be?”

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