Morelos self-destruction was not inevitable. A lot of people have their share of the blame.

The story breaking last night about Alfredo Morelos might, under normal circumstances, have been little more than a curious footnote from afar. But this story is so revealing, so absolutely stunning, that to ignore it would be a failure to grasp the implications – not just for him, but for those closer to home who had a role in shaping this saga. I won’t go into the sordid details of what’s alleged; if true, he ought to face the full force of the law.

My main concern lies in what this story reveals about his time in Scotland and the extent to which his behaviour was ignored or even enabled by the media.

Throughout Morelos’ time in Scotland, rumours about his antics off the field abounded. Some of those stories may have been exaggerated, and perhaps the media gave him a pass out of respect for his privacy.

But we all know this would be a rare occasion when they showed restraint if that were the case. Morelos was a public figure, one constantly in the headlines, and the media appeared willing to ignore anything that might dent his glossy public image.

This latest incident didn’t emerge in a vacuum; it’s the culmination of years of unchecked behaviour and whispers which were allowed to fester because some in our media preferred not to probe too deeply.

If I heard these stories back then, you can bet the press heard them too.

Any player scoring consistently at Ibrox is guaranteed an easy ride.

Morelos enjoyed one of the smoothest.

Despite his regular run-ins with officials on the field – with an alarming record of bookings and red cards – and the persistent rumours about his off-field escapades, he was granted a level of tolerance seldom seen. The media was happy to share heartwarming pictures of him with his wife, crafting an image of a content family man. They weren’t as quick to cover the stories which cast severe doubt on this image.

This man was hardly a private individual keeping out of the spotlight. He was, and is, a media figure, and a crafted one at that.

But this wasn’t just about a happy home-life narrative; the media had a hand in creating a fiction. A carefully polished image of a man as something he was not, a figure of reliability and respectability, when the reality was far different.

Everyone involved – Morelos, his agents, his PR team, and, yes, the media – colluded to present a wholesome picture of his private life that was as solid as wet tissue.

What’s incredible is that, even now, with this latest incident making headlines, the press is still trying to give him a soft landing.

Take today’s article by Gavin Berry in the Daily Record, for instance. Berry’s piece is quick to highlight that Morelos’ current manager – former Celtic player Efrain Juarez – has thrown his support behind him. “Manager backs player” is hardly breaking news, but the Record couldn’t resist this tenuous Celtic link, subtly implying that his latest misstep is somehow relevant to us.

It isn’t. Any shame to be found here is his own, and no small portion of it should fall on the media who shielded him from accountability for years. They could have forced a reckoning over his behaviour while he was here, perhaps changing the trajectory that has led to this point.

This isn’t mere speculation; there are facts in the public domain supporting what was once rumour.

Remember the baffling story about someone tampering with Morelos’ car?

The initial reports, fed to the press by those close to him and the club, were bizarre – some implied an attempt to mess with the brakes, others spun wild tales of a bomb plot. It was absurd. Why would a player with a record of goal-scoring at Ibrox suddenly be the target of such attacks? Ibrox has seen its fair share of prolific scorers over the years and none of them faced this.

The truth, as it turns out, was mundane and yet damning: someone had attempted to attach a tracking device to the vehicle. And who did that? It was reportedly a private investigator hired by his wife, who had heard the same whispers we all had about his infidelities. This story, too, faded without any deeper digging by the media.

Soon after came yet another controversy, one in which he bore no blame: Sky Sports’ now-infamous attempt to smear Celtic fans using an interview with him.

This is a matter of record, one of the most blatant examples of media manipulation.

During an interview, Morelos spoke in his native tongue; Sky’s subtitles accused Celtic supporters of racially abusing him. A proper translation confirmed he had said no such thing. Sky was forced into an apology, blaming a third-party translator for the “error.” This was no error; this was a lie, one that sought to damage Celtic’s reputation, and it should never be forgotten.

And let’s not overlook the scandalous column about Morelos, written by Keith Jackson, full of crap jokes about cocaine and Colombia, an article dripping with underlying racism and which had no place in a mainstream publication.

The media protected Morelos when it suited them, and they exploited him when it furthered their own ends. They turned a blind eye to the many rumours about him, and when it suited them, they used his image to pursue an anti-Celtic agenda. The club itself, at various points, fed these narratives, publicly accusing our fans of vile actions based on flimsy claims.

During the car controversy, Michael Stewart famously spoke out on BBC Radio Scotland, accusing the club of having pushed what they knew was a dangerous fiction; he was punished for it with a suspension and forced to issue an apology to the Ibrox club.

Morelos’ descent into this chaotic state was hardly unforeseeable.

He has travelled a road littered with red flags. Those who might have helped him turned away, whether out of convenience or self-interest.

The media has its own share of responsibility here. They presented one story to the public whilst knowing full well the truth was murkier. And that is a betrayal of journalistic integrity. The press corps here will deny any accountability, refusing to admit their part in this spectacle. That’s why it’s up to people like us to continue holding them to account, to expose the charades they construct and the standards they pretend to uphold.

And this, of course, is to say nothing for the club itself, something that probably deserves a piece on its own.

All those who knew what was going on with this guy should be hanging their heads in shame today.

Could they have changed the course of events? We’ll never know.

But one thing we can say with full confidence: many of them didn’t even try.