The Joe Aribo situation is looking curious now, as the Nigerian star enters into the final year of his deal.

Beginning next January, Aribo will be free to talk to other clubs for a pre-contract, and it is absolutely vital the former Charlton man’s future is sorted ASAP.

Fans concerned about his prospects need only to look at Scott Arfield, over whom silence was deafening as he too approached the end of his deal, only in the last couple of weeks for there to be confirmation a new contract was being negotiated.

Aribo, is, however, slightly different. The best years of the 25-year old’s career are definitely ahead of him, and PL sides definitely want him, with Southampton and Crystal Palace two of the outfits said to be interested.

And Rangers know that while Aribo’s talent and importance to the club could have him as market value in the range of £30M+, the fact he’s hitting the final spell of his Rangers term does hurt that number a lot.

A value, presently, of £10M has been quoted, and while we’re pretty sure Rangers won’t let him go for that in the summer, currently we’ll struggle to get his real worth.

So it’s either sell in the summer for £10M-£17M, or we get him tied down on a new contract.

Nigerian media claimed he’d turned his nose down at a new deal, and wasn’t interested in negotiations – our sources have heard nothing to confirm this to be true, but we do know he’s perilously close to squeaky bum time.

Sooner we fix his future up the better.