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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Former Rangers star Alex Rae thinks Joe Aribo could become a valuable asset at Ibrox in the coming years, speaking to talkSPORT this week.
What’s he said?
Aribo has still not been officially unveiled as a Rangers player but Steven Gerrard has essentially confirmed he’s signed up for the coming season, excitedly talking about what he will offer the Gers’ midfield.
Rae too believes that Aribo will be a hit at Rangers and reckons that although a low fee has been paid for the player, he could be worth as much as £6m in the future, 20 times the £300,000 compensation fee due to Charlton.
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Speaking to talkSPORT, the 49-year-old said:
“For me, it’s a no-brainer. We see it time after time, where English clubs cherry-pick the best out of Scotland.
“This kid’s obviously done very well for Charlton last year, I think he’s got ten goals. So it was a good return for someone so young.
“Rangers and Celtic have obviously identified that he’s good value. I think it’s a £300,000 compensation package because it’s a cross-border.
“All of a sudden you have a talent on your hands. If Aribo comes to Rangers, does well, within a couple of years he could be worth four, five, six million.”
Can Aribo earn that kind of reputation at Ibrox?
The Scottish Premiership is an improving league that, with competition from Rangers and the arrival of Steven Gerrard last season, attracted plenty of interest.
With players like Moussa Dembele leaving for Lyon last summer and Kieran Tierney linked with Arsenal in recent days, it’s clearly a division that Europe’s big clubs are keeping an eye on.
There’s no reason to think that if Aribo does well he can’t become a multi-million pound asset for the Gers, especially if he proves to be the goalscoring, box-to-box talent that Gerrard has painted him as.