Santos have officially exercised Alfredo Morelos' release clause and he will leave the shamed Brazilian club at the start of next month.

The famous club were relegated for the first time in their 111-year history last week with Pele's old side plummeting down to Serie B.

After his release from Rangers in the summer, Morelos took until September to find a new team, but injury hampered any impact he had in South America and he only managed to play a total of 76 minutes, where he managed one solitary start in Brazil's Serie A and three substitute appearances.

He had a relegation release clause in his contract if Santos went down, but it could only be activated if Santos agreed to it.

They appointed a new president this week and Marcelo Teixeira - who is now in his third spell at the club - has immediately acted by activating the release clause, leaving Morelos free to leave on January 1, when his contract expires.

Teixeira said: "My commitment is to return Santos to the place it should never have left.

"We will evaluate all the club’s departments. We need to take bold decisions so that Santos has an opportunity to get into shape financially in a difficult season."

And Morelos was the first to be sacrificed. According to reports in Brazil, there has been interest from a host of Mexican clubs, with Zenit St Petersburg previously linked to the 27-year-old too.

Morelos is reportedly earning around 1 million Brazilian reals a month, which amounts to around £40,000 a week - more than quadruple the amount of Santos' first-choice striker Marcos Leonardo.

With the relegated club desperately looking to reduce costs, giving the green light to allow Morelos to leave was one of the first decisions of their new president.

Morelos made 178 league appearances in total at Rangers, scoring 78 league goals and 124 in all competitions during his six-year spell in Glasgow.