The transfer fees every window were spoken about in terms of millions as tens of thousands of pounds were picked up each week in wages.

Now it is all about the penny for Alfredo Morelos. More pointedly and more specifically, it is about when it will drop?

If that has happened already then the 26-year-old may be able to salvage his career and have something more to show for his talent than his bank balance. If it has not, and there has to be a feeling that is the case, then the moment it eventually dawns on Morelos will have come too late.

The confirmation from Michael Beale that Morelos will leave Rangers this summer came - despite what he said later when asked about it directly - on Sunday afternoon. Just minutes beforehand, the man in question had trudged off the park at the end of a brief showing that encapsulated his sad, stark Ibrox decline.

Morelos is so short of form and fitness right now that Beale selected Fashion Sakala, supported by Rabbi Matondo and Ianis Hagi, to lead the line against Aberdeen. For all the flaws in the Zambian's game, he at least looks like he gives a damn.

That cannot be said for Morelos and the end of his Rangers career, much like this season, cannot come soon enough. The assessment from Beale was not delivered with anger or resentment but it was a withering putdown on a player that has been spoken about more than any other by a succession of managers.

"You saw a difference when Alfredo came on, in terms of energy, and not a positive change," Beale said. "We will need a focal point to the team. Antonio (Colak) isn’t fit at the moment and Alfredo will obviously be moving on."

That moment has been inevitable for some time. Yet it should not have manifest itself in these circumstances and all parties will surely regret that it has come to the point where supporters are glad to see the back of one of the finest forwards they have witnessed at Ibrox.

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On his day, Morelos was almost unplayable at times. He was the 'El Buffalo' styled forward, one of pace, power and an eye for goal, a man capable of bullying and punishing defences on his own as he became the talisman of the team rather than just the focal point of it.

Morelos was the man for the big occasion and the record books were rewritten as he surpassed Ally McCoist's European goal tally. Hero status was bestowed on him and the moments against Rapid Vienna and Legia Warsaw at Ibrox or away against Feyenoord and Porto were ones to applaud and embrace.

He would play an integral part in the campaign that delivered a historic 55th League title. Had he been fit in Seville, the names of that side could have been enshrined in Ibrox folklore.

For many, it will be the highs that they remember Morelos for, even though they have become more fleeting in recent times. Indeed, Beale pointed to that process when he was asked about the attitudes of Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell in the aftermath of the win over Aberdeen.

The answer ended with Beale stating that there was more to come from both next term and a reminder that it is the big games that define Rangers careers. Morelos was not referenced directly but Beale's words were food for thought for the Colombian and supporters.

"It is my opinion that history, in a few years’ time, will look back on one or two players more fondly than they do today because they will see the goals they scored or the games they played in and the moments they had," Beale said. "I think what has happened with those two is that the fans wanted to see one or two fresh faces and they have come in with a natural infectious energy and I think that is nice.

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"I think attitude and energy is the best friend or the worst enemy of every football player. Ultimately if you have success that attitude and energy has got to grow and you can’t change."

That last part is certainly relevant to Morelos. Somewhere along the line he changed and it all went wrong. Only he will know where, when or why.

He has never had the potential to reach the very highest echelons of the game but there was a time when he seemed destined for bigger and better things. A move to the top four of England or the pinnacles of La Liga or Serie A were not on the cards but Morelos could, and should, have been a hugely effective operator at a certain level of the European game.

He was the man that the opposition loved to hate, one they had to respect as well as fear. He had the adoration of the Ibrox crowd, a series of lucrative contracts and, seemingly, a path to future glories and riches.

Today, the season that started with more disciplinary issues and questions over his physical shape and mental frame of mind will end with him leaving Rangers on a free transfer.

That will sting the directors as much as the supporters but it is not the biggest frustration when it comes to Morelos. It did not need to be this way.

Morelos should be thanked for his efforts over the years and wished well for the future but both come with a caveat right now. He has soured his reputation through his own personal and professional failings and will depart having not fulfilled his promise in terms of performances or prizes.

His destination will speak volumes. It is impossible to see how he gets a move to the kind of club that have previously been credited with an interest in him and a deal in one of the more lucrative but less glamorous leagues of world football would not be a surprise.

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It would be churlish to deny a man who has come from nothing and the poverty-stricken streets of northern Colombia the opportunity to cash in during his career. But Morelos had the chance to earn medals and make memories as well as money had he applied himself correctly throughout his Rangers career.

Inspiration - in terms of standards and work ethic - should have been found in team-mates such as Allan McGregor, Steven Davis and Jermain Defoe and the messages, the warnings, from Steven Gerrard and Giovanni van Bronckhorst should have been taken on board. Instead, Morelos has done it his way.

Perhaps he is perfectly at ease at how his Rangers career has petered out and at where the game will take him next. If he is, then it is a shame.

One day - be it when he leaves Ibrox for the last time or long after he has hung up his boots - he will surely sit and reflect on where it all went right and where it all went wrong. Morelos has been good for Rangers and Rangers have been good for Morelos, but the relationship should have been so much better.

The game will provide Morelos with millions of reasons to be content. Once the penny drops, he will have many more reasons to regret.