Rangers can sign their best striker since Morelos for £15m

The long wait for a Scottish Premiership title goes on at Ibrox after Glasgow Rangers were officially knocked out of the title race over the weekend.

Their loss to their city rivals essentially ended their campaign, as the Light Blues cannot win the division and are already out of the SFA Cup and the Europa League.

The Gers have not won the Premiership title since Steven Gerrard led the side to the crown in the 2020/21 campaign, and Danny Rohl failed to follow in his footsteps this term.

All of the club’s focus must now turn to the summer transfer window and what can be done to ensure that the squad is better equipped to challenge for the title next season.

One thing that the Scottish giants must do before the 2026/27 campaign gets underway is to sign a new centre-forward to add more consistency to the frontline.

Why Rangers need to sign a new centre-forward

Despite having Youssef Chermiti, Bojan Miovski, and Ryan Naderi on the books, Rangers must sign another goalscorer when the summer transfer window opens for business.

The last consistently reliable goalscorer that the Gers had was Alfredo Morelos, who scored 124 goals in 269 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Morelos, who scored 17 goals and provided 13 assists in the 2020/21 campaign, contributed to winning for the Gers because he scored goals in big games and offered consistent quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

The Colombian star, who was once praised by Gerrard for the physicality that he showed, was the focal point for Rangers in the number nine position with physicality, goals, and assists.

Chermiti is the club’s top scoring striker, with 12 league goals, but he has missed 18 ‘big chances’ and has now shown that he can be as clinical and reliable in front of goal as Morelos once was at Ibrox.

That is why the Rohl must push the board to sign one of the club’s reported targets this summer, as they are said to be leading the race for an impressive striker.

Rangers could sign their best striker since Alfredo Morelos

In March, it was reported that Rangers are one of the clubs interested in a deal to sign Swansea centre-forward Zan Vipotnik in the summer transfer window.

Premier League teams Nottingham Forest and Sunderland are also in the race to secure the Slovenia international’s signature, but according to Football FanCast sources earlier this year, the Gers are said to be leading the race because they are likely to have European football to offer him. That’s despite a reported asking price of £15m too.

Three years ago, Rangers were linked with Championship powerhouse Viktor Gyokeres when he was at Coventry. They missed out on a deal to Sporting and he has now scored 21 goals for Arsenal as they close in on the Premier League and Champions League trophies.

The Gers must now make the same mistake twice because Vipotnik’s performances for Swansea in the 2025/26 campaign were very similar to Gyokeres’ for Coventry three years ago.

Swansea’s marksman won the Golden Boot in the Championship, with six more goals than the second-top scorer, and significantly outperformed his xG of 13.42.

Unlike Chermiti and Cyriel Dessers in recent seasons, who missed more ‘big chances’ than they scored in the Premiership, Vipotnik rarely passes up a ‘big chance’ to find the back of the net.

Like Morelos, the Slovenian centre-forward is an incredibly clinical striker who can be part of a title-winning side because he is unlikely to let the team down with huge misses in front of goal.

On top of that, no Rangers striker has scored 20 or more league goals since Kris Boyd plundered 23 in the 2009/10 Premiership season, which suggests that Vipotnik has the potential to be their most prolific striker in over 15 years.

The Swansea star could be their best centre-forward since Morelos and their most prolific number nine since Boyd if the Gers can get a deal over the line for the impressive attacker this summer.

It is now down to the board to agree a deal with the Championship club to avenge their failure to get a deal done with Coventry for Gyokeres in 2023.