STEVEN GERRARD insists Alfredo Morelos is the only man who can influence his Rangers future as he addressed the 'noise' surrounding his star striker.

Morelos has never hidden his desire to move to a more lucrative league during his time in Glasgow but claimed this week that his relationship with the Ibrox crowd could tempt him to remain with the champions 'for years to come'.

The Colombian has been repeatedly linked with a big-money switch away from Rangers during Gerrard's tenure but a deal with Lille wasn't agreed last summer and Porto didn't follow up their interest earlier this term.

Morelos is under contract until the summer of 2023 and Gerrard will leave transfer talk to the 25-year-old and his agents following the latest round of speculation over his Rangers future.

“I think that’s Alfredo’s decision and his representation’s decision," Gerrard told Sky Sports. "They seem pretty close.

“There has been a lot of noise on the outside about Alfredo, certainly in the three and half years that I have been here. None of that noise has come from anyone at Rangers.

“I think Alfredo will make his decision. I think he’s made it clear where he wants to be long-term.

“But the reality is he’s got to perform at a level here for people to show an interest in him.

“For me we like working with him, we like the player, he scores goals.

“I said last week I think he can get to a better level from a personal point of view and then the goals will come.

“But in terms of decisions where he’ll be in the long-term it will be down to him and his representatives rather than us.

“We’ve always shown we want to keep the player, the fans have always shown they want to keep the player.

“So all the noise around Alfredo comes from him and his people rather than us."

Morelos fired a blank against Brondby on Thursday night as he continues his search to reach the 100 goals marker for Rangers and achieve another notable personal milestone at Ibrox.

The striker was a mainstay of the side that clinched a historic 55th Premiership title last season and Gerrard knows how important Morelos could be going forward if he can hit those heights once again.

Gerrard added: “He’s been fantastic for me in terms of his goal return since day one.

“He’s played at a consistent level more often than not and I think we’ve given him the support and the information and development.

“We’ve tried to make him more mature as a person. There have been a lot of man hours that have gone into Alfredo Morelos, a lot of support.

“The relationship is strong and we’ll try and get him back into that place as soon as we can.

“When he’s there everyone knows he scores goals consistently. That gives us a better chance of being successful.

“But we have 26/27 players here and I think it’s important to speak about them too. A lot of them have been very consistent for me.”