TWO new contracts in six months for Alfredo Morelos. It is some going. And that is even without considering the goal bonuses involved.

If the club took something of a flier on this stocky little Colombian when Pedro Caixinha signed off on a sum in the region of £1m on a man who had played just 12 matches in the Finnish league, he is a proven quantity when it comes to the Scottish league these days and it is understandable that Rangers are desperate to ward off potential suitors in their prize asset. With 28 goals in 41 appearances this season, he is utterly integral to the entire Steven Gerrard project at the club.

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It is little surprise that details of this deal should emerge shortly after the spectre of Morelos leaving the club this summer had risen again in the last few days. Borussia Dortmund and Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City were credited with an interest, after transfer offers thought to be in the region of £3.5m from Bordeaux and £8m from Beijing Renhe had been rebuffed in the past.

Morelos had even been quoted in a radio interview in his homeland saying it was ‘most likely’ that he would move on from the club this summer. But in agreeing a new deal Rangers have played a strong hand in attempting to persuade him to stay at Ibrox for the short to medium term.

While the deal will not come cheap at a club who have committed to big wages to players such as Steven Davis and Jermain Defoe who have yet to have anything like the Colombian’s contribution on the field, Morelos is the best player at the club, and one of the best in Scotland, and he is entitled to command top dollar - particuarly when he sees the weekly sums lavished on those two. Rangers may have lost £14m in their previous year’s annual accounts but spending the cash on an improving 22-year-old would seem to be one of their safer investments. It is certainly far safer than the dosh wasted on flops such as Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera.

While the departure of Rodgers shows that we shouldn’t expect anyone in football these days to see out the term of their contract, Rangers fans on their way to Easter Road for tonight’s match should be heartened about the idea of seeing their hero play on for at least a season more. Another 12 months in Scottish football wouldn’t do too much harm either for a player who still has a few rough edges. Now under contract until 2023, while the detail of the deal remains to be seen, ostensibly the club have strengthened their hand here when richer clubs – as they inevitably will – come calling.

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Whether Morelos would command the £20m Celtic got for Moussa Dembele remains one of Scottish football’s favourite water cooler conversations. While Dembele already had a reputation in the English game from his time at Fulham, Morelos - a good finisher, with excellent penalty box movement, pace, strength and the ability to hold the ball up - has little in the way of weaknesses other than a lack of inches and a capacity to find himself cooling his heels off the field. But quite apart from anything else, he has the capacity to be a game-changing financial deal for Rangers - along the lines of the Jean-Alain Boumsong transfer - when he eventually is sold. Persuading the player to commit to the club until 2023 should give Rangers the chance to allow him to leave at a time of their choosing.