Fantasy Football- Kenny Miller reveals the value of Joe Aribo with no interest in the Ibrox ace

For the third week running Kenny Miller has been explaining the fictitious Player Trading Model to Daily Record readers. 

A fortnight ago it was about Calvin Bassey, last week Alfredo Morelos, today the focus is on Joe Aribo. 

The most crucial aspect of a Player Trading Model is that a club wants to buy a player, without that there is no model. 

Miller seems to take the constant speculation in the Record as proof that there is a clamour for Ibrox players. Unless Everton are again looking at chucking money away there are no buyers out there for the questionable goods at Ibrox, certainly not for the Dembele Dollars that has mesmerised Ibrox fans since 2016. 

Bang average players with no EPL track record aren’t going to go for big bucks in the final year of their contract. If clubs were really interested they’d have made a move before now, no club is paying £10m or more for Aribo, Morelos or Ryan Kent when they can agree a pre-contract in January. 

Regardless of that inconvenient reality, profiling Aribo, Miller tells Daily Record readers: 

Speculation is building around Joe Aribo ’s future at Rangers with Crystal Palace keen on him. There were rumours surrounding him because of his performances for much of last season. In the first five months he was Rangers’ most consistent player. 

Joe is now at a good age. If you profile him, he has everything a Premier League club would want. With a year left on his contract, teams won’t be stupid with potential bids. Rangers will have a valuation of what he’s worth and it’s about whether they can find that common ground with a buyer. Aribo, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are all going into their last year. 

They’re all starting players so you don’t want constant speculation. It can sidetrack the player and become a sideshow for the manager who gets asked about it every week. So I’d like to see Aribo’s situation resolved quickly. Either re-sign him on a new deal or if the board are willing to sell, let’s bring in the most money we can. 

London probably makes sense for Joe because it’s where he grew up. He will have ambitions of playing in the Premier League. And of those three players at Rangers, you have to think at least one will move on. Joe only signed for around £300k. If Rangers can get around £8million for him it’s good business. 

That’s the model every club wants. You sign cheap – the same way Celtic did with Moussa Dembele – and sell big. Clubs need to balance the books and Rangers are no different. Right now, Aribo is still an asset. But if it gets to Christmas time and nothing’s happened, he’ll probably leave for nothing. It’s all about timing. If it’s right for the player and club, maybe now is a good time for him to go. 

Getting half of £8m for Aribo would be good business, no matter how uncomfortable it feels. Talk up add-ons and the gullibles will fall in line.