GRAEME MURTY insists striker Alfredo Morelos won’t be leaving Rangers without his say so after transfer deadline day passed without any further business at Ibrox.

The Light Blues turned down an £8million bid for Morelos from Chinese Super League side Beijing Renhe and the Colombian is now poised to remain in Glasgow for the rest of the campaign.

The Chinese transfer window is open until the end of February but boss Murty is determined to retain the services of the 21-year-old.

He said: “Obviously their transfer window closes later than ours but we have to protect our squad and the positive feeling we have.

“The message I have had is that I don’t need to sell anyone for any economic imperative.

“I have to make a football decision based on us closing the gap at the top and being competitive in every competition we’re in.

“I’ve made that decision, I want Alfredo to be here.

“Unless we can go out and spend any money that comes in to strengthen us and make us better it makes no sense to have economic pleasure in the short-term but then weaken our challenge in the long-term.

“We want to challenge and try to make up, we want to build a squad to compete at the highest level.

“We have to make sure Alfredo understands out position because we are not trying to derail anything for him, we are just trying to take care of him and the club at the same time.

“We believe we can do that, we believe we can get him to the next level.”

Murty has added five new players to his squad in recent weeks as he sets his sights on second place in the Premiership and Scottish Cup success this term.

The loss of Morelos would have been a major blow to their ambitions in both competitions but the Gers board have stood firm to ensure the striker can play a key part for Murty’s side in the coming months.

Murty said: “It’s down to us, me and the club, to make sure he feels loved by us and respected by us.

“He’s not expressed a desire to leave, we have conveyed our feelings to him and he’s conveyed his feelings to us.

“He is confused at the minute because there are figures being bandied about which would turn anyone’s head. It’s almost designed to confuse and unsettle.

“We just have to make sure he understands out position that we want him here with us.

“We have talked about his ultimate aims and desires, I feel he has the capacity to be an international player for his country.

“He can do that by being the top scorer in Scotland and building on his game.

“I honestly believe we can enhance him and do that here.

“There is no reason for him to be frustrated, he is still a young man.

“He has been a pleasure to work with the whole time, he’s not been disruptive - there has been none of that.”

Morelos spent the night on the bench at Bellslea Park as Rangers booked their place in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

A Josh Windass hat-trick was enough to see off Fraserburgh and set up a meeting with Ayr United later this month.

Murty said: “I said to the players beforehand we had to come here a bit steely-eyed and not get caught up in the romance of everything and be a bit of a villain and spoil their big day.

“I thought a clean sheet and three goals wasn’t as clinical as I would like or as crisp as I would like but the conditions played a big part in that.

“Credit to them, they made it very difficult for us. I am pleased to be through to the next round, pleased with the clean sheet and pleased we have got everyone off the pitch unscathed and ready to go to the next game on Saturday.”