JUST one week ago, Alfredo Morelos was on the cusp of a remarkable Brazilian achievement.
But instead, it’s all ended in heartbreak.
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Morelos was one of several high profile departures from Rangers at the end of last season.
Leaving in May, he spent more than three months as a free agent before eventually being snapped up by Santos, the club where the great Pele made his name.
But a far cry from their historic past, Morelos joined at a time when the Brazilian giants were fighting for their top flight lives.
In the end, they were relegated in December on the final day of the Brazilian Serie A season.
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It’s the first time they’ve EVER been relegated from the top tier.
Injuries had wrecked Morelos’ chances of making an impact and he was restricted to just three league appearances.
Despite signing a two-year deal with the club, his Santos spell looked to be over due to a relegation clause in his contract.
Instead, the 27-year old agreed to a pay cut and has remained as the fallen giants look to reclaim their top division place.
Before the league season gets under way later this month, Santos have been competing in the Paulista competition.
This is a prestigious league tournament containing clubs from the Sao Paulo region.
Despite now being a second tier club, Santos navigated their way out of the group phase, through the knockouts and into the final – beating his former Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha and his Red Bull Bragantino side on the way.
Standing in their way of an incredible triumph were Palmeiras, the Brazilian champions.
Morelos came on a a substitute last week as Santos managed to beat Brazil’s top team 1-0 in the first leg of the final.
In a game dramatically interrupted by a CAT, there were wild celebrations at full time.
Last night, Santos travelled to Palmeiras’ Allianz Parque for the second leg.
But it wasn’t to be for them.
Morelos started but couldn’t prevent his team from falling to a 2-0 defeat, losing out on Paulista success in heartbreaking fashion.
The Colombian international played 64 minutes before being subbed-off, just three minutes after being shown a yellow card.
Morelos has failed to hit the ground running since his move in Brazil and has just one solitary goal to his name – that was a penalty kick in a 1-0 win over Sao Paulo more than two months ago.
And after watching him squander a couple of chances in last night’s defeat, Santos fans have been left unhappy with the striker’s performances.
One said: “The only player I got angry with was Morelos. He must hate Santos.”
Another added: “I have nothing to say about Morelos.”
A third said: “Someone take Morelos from Santos.”
A fourth commented: “Will this be the end of Morelos at Santos? Higher salary, low performance, he was on the field and missed the best opportunity Santos had in the game.”
Santos will have to pick themselves up quickly.
That’s because there are less than two weeks to go until their Serie B campaign gets underway.
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They face Paysandu in their opening clash on Friday, 19 April.
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