The financial backstory that gave us Translategate

It is worth remembering that the current PR shitshow around Morelos comes out of a planned media strategy.

At the start of the last window I’m told that the Sevco High Command had been told by their Director of Fantasy that the club had three sellable assets:

Borna Barišić, James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos.

Of course, the South American is the one that the Sevco High Command had hoped would attract the sort of fee that would solve many of their pressing financial problems.

I’m told that three potential markets were identified specifically for the three players

• That is the lower part of the EPL and the upper echelons of the Championship.
• The elite clubs of Russia.
• The top end of the Bundesliga.

These markets were identified because they could match the salary expectations of these players.

For example, there is no club in Croatia that would even countenance matching the personal terms Borna Barišić.

Therefore, a return to his homeland is out of the question unless he takes a massive pay cut.

Hopes were high that some offers might come in for their captain.

Tavernier is certainly an excellent attacking fullback.

However, his appendix issue probably put a stop to any firm interest in the January window.

My information is the Sevco engaged an agent to work with their Director of Fantasy.

The remit was simple enough “sell Morelos”.

Of course, the ground had to be prepared to break the news to the Ibrox klanbase.

They had to be able to answer the following question from distraught fans:

“Why sell our best player when we are in a title race?”

Now the real reason is the state of Sevco’s finances.

The alternative narrative was that Alfredo had been driven out of Scotland by racists.

Moreover, this would explain why the transfer fee was lower than the ridiculous figures that had been regularly reported in the Off The Radar press.

Initially, the story that someone had been tampering with his car fitted that bogus narrative perfectly.

It goes without saying that the Stenography Corps didn’t check the story out before running it.

They just couldn’t get enough Succulent Lamborghini.

When the truth about the car incident was about to…err…Brake there was a need to get the racism narrative back out there.

A soft-focus interview was then set up as part of a fire fighting exercise.

Now, the translation was faithful to the predetermined narrative, but not to what Señor Alfredo José Morelos Aviléz had actually said on camera.

You know the rest and soon so will Ofcom…

For the avoidance of doubt, all of this could be avoided if there was a functioning Fourth Estate in Scottish football.

 

 

Quite so Stanley.

Quite so…