Kris Boyd has branded Alfredo Morelos "moody" insisting that Rangers are better off without the Colombian striker.

The 26-year-old is out of contract in the summer and he could depart the club if Michael Beale does not decide to offer a new contract.

Boyd has publically criticised Morelos for his performances and physical condition this season, and despite the frontman scoring twice against Hearts in midweek, his opinion has not changed.

"While I would move heaven and earth to keep Kent, I reckon Gers can actually thrive without the moody Morelos," Boyd wrote in his Scottish Sun column.

"He has continually been linked with a move away from Glasgow over the past five years. Yet there has been only one concrete offer, as far as I’m aware, and that was from Lille.

"There was no great demand for him in the January transfer window, either, considering he is available on a free this summer. On his day, he is the most effective of all Rangers’ forwards.

"He has more strings to his bow than the others, even though Kemar Roofe is the most natural finisher to my eye.

"But on closer inspection, Morelos’ domestic scoring record is not much to shout about.

"In the Premiership, there has been only one campaign — his second in Scotland — when he hit more than 15 goals.

"He has been at Rangers for six years, and in that period they have won just two trophies.

"Yes, their runs in Europe should be applauded, and Morelos does deserve a huge amount of credit for the part he played in those.

"But Gers’ bread and butter is the league — it always was and always will be.

"In the Premiership, Morelos’ tallies have been 14, 18, 12, 12, 11 and nine so far this season. Antonio Colak helped himself to 11 goals inside three months after joining last summer. In my time at Ibrox, my league totals were 17 from 17 appearances in 2006, 20 from 32, 14 from 28, 27 from 35, and 23 from 31.

"Michael Beale deserves credit for getting so much more out of Morelos than his predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

"But the new Gers boss has already stated he is going to bring in new strikers this summer. It would be too much of a risk to keep Morelos as he simply can’t be relied upon. He is as liable to disappoint as he is to start scoring every week.

"If Rangers are to improve and start winning titles on a regular basis, they need better.

"I’m sure Beale thinks that too. So I just don’t see him bending over backwards to keep Morelos.

"However, I do believe he will pull out all the stops to make sure Kent stays.

"Beale seems to be getting a real tune out of the winger, whose confidence is back."