Charlton Athletic boss Lee Bowyer admits Joe Aribo made ‘the right move’ choosing Rangers over Brentford during the summer of 2019, speaking to talkSPORT (20 December, 11am).
Those of you with long memories may recall that Bowyer had a very different opinion of Aribo’s decision to swap The Valley for Ibrox at the time.
The then-Addicks boss even told South London News that Rangers was ‘not the right place for him to go for his football career’, indicating that the Nigeria would stand a better chance of securing an eventual Premier League switch by staying on the other side of the border.
Joining Southampton over the summer after scoring Rangers in last season’s UEFA Europa League final, at least Bowyer has the good sense to know when he’s wrong.
Joe Aribo made ‘the right move’ choosing Rangers over Brentford
“Obviously, from a selfish point I wanted him to stay with me and Charlton,” the former Birmingham City boss admits. “He was going in a direction as a player, improving all the time and scoring goals.
“Looking back at it, I’m not a silly person. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and that was mine at the time. But I look back at it, and Joe is now playing in the Premier League. By going to Rangers, I think that playing in Europe has given him more experience than what he would’ve got playing for Brentford.
“Brentford were in for him as well.
“So I think it was the right move going to Rangers. And I’m not just backtracking because Scotsmen gave me a bit of stick! Playing in Europe, I know how good that is for your career.
“It’s rewarding for me because I helped him get on that journey.”
The enigmatic Aribo was also a key part of the Rangers side who won the Scottish Premiership title under Steven Gerrard in 2020/21; going undefeated throughout their 38 league matches.
He joined Southampton in a £10 million deal last July, following in the footsteps of fellow Old Firm alumni Stuart Armstrong, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Elyounoussi.
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