Big news has emerged regarding Rangers star Joe Aribo and his current contract situation at Ibrox as Giovanni van Bronckhorst looks resigned to losing the player.
What’s the news?
Journalist Joshua Barrie of the Rangers Review has revealed fresh news on the Nigerian, tweeting: “Regarding Joe Aribo I’m told that Rangers are relaxed about his contract situation. There is interest from the Premier League, but I understand the club remain confident they can make a significant profit for Aribo in this window. In keeping with the player trading model.”
This update will be sure to leave the Ibrox faithful gutted, as arguably one of the club's best performers looks like he could be leaving Glasgow.
Aribo looks set to move
Interest in Aribo has been high for a number of months now, with Premier League outfit Crystal Palace being the main protagonists.
According to All Nigeria Soccer, promoted duo Nottingham Forest and Fulham are also keen on signing Aribo and could rival Palace in making bids for the midfielder.
The news from Barrie all but confirms that Rangers will be accepting bids for the player. This would usually be a good thing, as selling a player with a year left on his contract could land the club a massive profit, but in this instance it feels like a massive body blow.
Aribo was arguably one of Rangers' finest players last season, ranking third in the squad with a WhoScored rating of 7.29. He became just the fourth Gers player to score in a major European final when Van Bronckhorst's side were defeated by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final in May.
The 25-year-old has proven his worth during his three years at Ibrox, and last season he registered a staggering 70 matches for both club and country in what has been an incredible display of mental resilience.
His versatility will be hard to replace, and although Van Bronckhorst could ensure that Rangers make a massive profit on the £300k outlay for him in 2019, it would leave a massive gap to fill in the squad.
Hopefully the manager can get the funds from a potential sale to reinvest back into the team.