Joe Aribo Tipped to Eventually Join Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa

Glasgow Rangers of Scotland midfielder, Joe Aribo has been tipped to join The Gers’ immediate past coach, Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa of England, where the football legend moved to last week, e360hubs.com reports.

In the wake of the shock move that sees Gerrard get his first coaching job in the English Premier League, a former striker at Rangers’ fellow-Glasgow-based rivals, Celtic, Frank McAvennie has predicted that Aribo will soon reunite with the one fondly called ‘Stevie G.’

That prediction could be buoyed by a reminder that it was Gerrard that convinced Aribo to join Rangers from Charlton Athletic of England in July 2019, despite the Ondo State indigene attracting interest from a couple of teams in the English Premier League and across Europe.

Aribo then went on to excel under Gerrard at Rangers, scoring 20 goals and assisting 18 others in 113 appearances across all competitions for the Ibrox Stadium outfit, which he helped to the Scottish Premiership and Cup double last season.

Consequently, while Aribo is again being linked with a return to England, where Crystal Palace have been mentioned as a possible destination for him, Gerrard could lure him over to Villa Park instead, as the Liverpool legend may look at signing some of his favourites from Rangers.

Although Aribo looked shaky in the Eagles’ squad on Saturday, as Nigeria got a 2-0 win over Liberia in a 2022 World Cup qualifier, McAvennie singled him out among the possibility of any Rangers’ player becoming Gerrard’s first signing at Villa.

McAvennie told Football Insider: “I would be very surprised if Gerrard didn’t sign at least one player from Rangers.

“I look at that squad and see a few players who could do it. Joe Aribo stands out to me. He’s young enough and has the talent to go down there and do well. £10million is it for him?

“That’s a good deal. Aribo could add that spark to the Villa midfield. They have a lot of quality players but they are struggling to create.

“I would imagine Aribo will be a relatively cheap signing Gerrard could get over the line. He could definitely follow Gerrard and it would be a brilliant move for him.”