Galatasaray came very close to 11th hour Rangers signing
St Mirren v Rangers - Scottish Premiership - St Mirren Park Rangers Alfredo Morelos celebrates with Glen Kamara, Connor Goldson and Joe Aribo after scoring his side s second goal of the game during the Scottish Premiership match at St Mirren Park, Paisley. Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xIanxRutherfordx 57335659
Joe Aribo was a last minute target for Turkish giants Galatasaray, according to Nigerian media, with the attacking midfielder late for his country’s camp, something which had manager Gernot Rohr rather upset.
Word from Nigerian press is the playmaker’s agent met with Galatasaray representatives on Tuesday to discuss terms, but the offered numbers didn’t appeal and Aribo did not join his agent in Istanbul as a result.
And if there is truth in this, then Rangers had potentially agreed a transfer fee.
We find this story bizarre. But Rohr was on record as being disappointed in Aribo’s late arrival:
“We are ready, we still have two or three players missing, they will come tonight or tomorrow. “These players were worried about transfer issues, so they couldn’t be with us from day one.”
Those players included Aribo, so unless his international manager was lying, this is a real story.
It all begs the question of how much was offered to Rangers to potentially take this to Aribo agreeing terms, given just how essential the Nigerian is to Rangers’ system.
He’s an ever-present and has been one of the most in-form players the past calendar year. This story was kept well away from the press until Rohr let the cat out of the bag, and it seems like Rangers came very close to selling the big man.
This would have been a disappointing one to lose, and we’re glad it fell through.