Crystal Palace have reportedly received a boost in their pursuit of Rangers star striker Alfredo Morelos.

What's the word?

Morelos has been linked with a move to the Eagles for a number of months now.

They were linked with a £20m January swoop in October 2019, but an official bid was never publicly revealed.

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The Colombia international remains at Ibrox but, according to a recent report from Goal, the Scottish giants are already preparing for life without the prolific attacker.

The report claims that the club are acutely aware of that fact it will be difficult to retain the striker in the next transfer window, and the club are forming a contingency plan to deal with that eventuality.

Swansea's Rhian Brewster and former Sunderland striker Josh Maja form a shortlist of five strikers who are being considered as potential replacements for Morelos.

Coveted asset

While the news is undoubtedly a major boost for Palace in their pursuit, the extent of interest in Morelos' services will provide some cause for concern.

Having scored 77 goals in 129 games for Rangers, the 23-year-old has established himself as a coveted talent, commanding interest from Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Leicester City and Inter Milan, per the same report.

And, given Morelos is attracting interest from Inter and Atletico, two clubs who are regulars in the Champions League, there is no doubt Roy Hodgson and the rest of the Palace hierarchy would pull off a major coup if they can bring the hot-headed attacker to south London.

Rangers' talisman has been sent off on a total of seven occasions in his career and has a tendency to let his emotions get the better of him, which presumably could influence how many of the interested clubs translate their admiration into a concrete offer.

His goal scoring record, however, suggests it could be a risk worth taking for Palace amid their recent struggles at centre-forward.