Alfredo Morelos will not be sold "at any price" in the next transfer window, outgoing Rangers chairman Dave King has said.

King believes the Colombian hitman, who has scored 22 goals already this season, could be the difference in the title race as they look to stop Celtic's bid for nine-in-a-row.

But the South African-based businessman, who will stand down as chairman next year, also admitted that the Ibrox club were "playing catch up" with their Glasgow rivals' ability to trade players.

He said: "I do not see Alfredo Morelos leaving in January at any price. We want to win the league, we don't want money in the bank.

"He is a goalscorer. I wouldn't like to have to replace him.

"If someone was to bid £25m it would be my recommendation not to take it because I think it would weaken our chances of winning the league."

Morelos signed for Rangers for around £1m from Finnish side HJK Helsinki in 2017.

Since then, the 23-year-old has hit 70 goals and earned seven caps for the Colombian national team, scoring once.

His impressive form has led to speculation that clubs in England and across the continent could be preparing a bid.

Speaking of the differences between Rangers and their title rivals, King said the main issue was Celtic's ability to generate cash in the transfer market.

In the last two years, they sold Kieran Tierney to Arsenal for £25m and Moussa Dembele to Lyon for around £20m.

He said: "If you look at the revenue streams, the commercial sponsorship and season ticket sales, we are pretty much the same as Celtic, but where we are playing catch up is their ability to trade players.

"That is a feature of success on the pitch. If our players are winning leagues, if our players are playing in Europe and getting to the knock-out stages, then we will start getting the trading values.

"Part of our funding of the club is realising that is an income stream that we don't have."