Nigeria midfielder Joe Aribo of Rangers FC.Rangers.

Rangers’ Aribo can walk into the Premier League all day long – Rae

Former Rangers midfielder Alex Rae has tipped midfielder Joe Aribo to walk into any team in the Premier League and cope well “with the physical demands of the game.”

The 25-year-old Nigeria international has been a transfer subject in the ongoing window with several clubs from the Premier League keen on his services. On Saturday, reports emerged that promoted side Nottingham Forest had shown interest to sign him.

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“I think Joe could walk into the Premier League all day long. I think in the opening half of last season, Aribo was the outstanding player in Scotland by a distance,” Rae said as quoted by Press Reader.

“When you look at the way he plays, at his European performances, and what he does for his country at the international level, that is the conclusion you come to.

“He is very good technically, is experienced, and I have no doubt he would be able to cope with the physical demands of the game there. His form dipped a bit at the turn of the year after he went to the African Nations, but it picked up again towards the end of the season.”

Last season, Aribo was instrumental for Rangers as they defeated Hearts 2-0 to win the Scottish Cup and also reached the final of the Europa League where they lost 5-4 on penalties to Frankfurt.

He scored in the final with a 57th-minute strike before Frankfurt levelled courtesy of Rafael Santos Borre in the 67th minute to take the game to penalties.

In the Scottish Premier League, Aribo managed 31 appearances overall and accumulated 2,274 minutes of playing time. He was selected in the starting XI in 27 of these appearances across their 38 fixtures and used as a substitute on four occasions.

He scored a total of eight goals and it was against Hibernian on April 11 when he last found the back of the net, in a 2-1 victory. His opening goal of the campaign came in the 3-0 victory against St. Johnstone on August 12.

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