Significant undisclosed fee confirms embarrassment over Joe Aribo deal
With the football world knowing that Southampton have paid out £6m for Joe Aribo the Ibrox club have chosen to describe it as ‘a significant undisclosed fee’.
Three years on from leaving Charlton the midfielder has returned to English football with one year left to run on his Ibrox contract.
Hype, hope and spin about a £20m fee and a race to sign the midfielder proved to be typically over optimistic.
On Thursday morning Fabrizio Romano confirmed a £6m fee, despite being alerted there was no sign of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest or Crystal Palace launching a counter bid for the Nigerian international.
Rangers can today confirm the transfer of @J_Aribo19 to @SouthamptonFC for a significant, undisclosed fee.
Aribo has served Rangers with distinction in the last three seasons, and leaves with the best wishes of everyone at Ibrox.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) July 9, 2022
With that fee set it is highly unlikely that larger fees will be coming in for Alfredo Morelos or Ryan Kent. With less than 12 months left on their deals the club has to decide whether they cash in on more cut price deals or allow both players to leave as free agents next summer.