Lille have been pursuing the signing of Alfredo Morelos quite openly and for a while, it seemed like the Ligue 1 outfit was actually getting really close to sealing the deal. However, following their signing of Gent's Jonathan David, Rangers seem to be out of the woods for now.

Not only that but the president of the French club, Gerard Lopez, joined talkSPORT and discussed the whole situation with the Colombian striker and their £16m pursuit of his signature.

Here's what he said for the aforementioned outlet: 'We have (bid £16m). He’s obviously a good player. We had a primary target who was Jonathan David and who we got. He’s locked into a certain system with a number of players already around him. We know we have a lot of talent. We have lots of offensive material and we’ve hit the pause button at this stage.'

This will, of course, come as huge relief for Steven Gerrard as it seems like Lille have indeed decided to stop their chase for now, reassess and then decide what to do next. It has to be said that Lopez never confirmed they will stop the pursuit indefinitely so it is likely the French club does indeed come back for Morelos somewhere further down the line.

However, at this point, it seems like Rangers are safe and their star man up front will be staying at Ibrox for at least a while longer.

For how long though? That remains to be seen.

Verdict

It does feel like Gerrard was already preparing for life without Morelos in the squad. After all, Rangers had already secured Kemar Roofe from Anderlecht and Cedric Itten from FC St Gallen prior to this revelation and the duo seems like an attempt to plug a huge Morelos-sized hole in the team.

Now, however, it seems that the Colombian will indeed stay at the club.