Aribo turns down Gerrard's Aston Villa, confirms Rangers' stay

Damola Ogungbe 12:49 - 02.06.2022

Super Eagles midfielder Joe Aribo has confirmed that he will be staying with Scottish Premiership side Rangers for the 2022/23 season. 

Rumours have been rife about the future of the 25-year-old Super Eagles star after enjoying an impressive season with the Scottish giants both on the domestic front and in Europe.

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Aribo has just one year left on his contract with former manager Steven Gerrard and his Aston Villa side leading a host of Premier League clubs looking to snap up the midfielder this summer.

However, in an interview with Brila FM, Aribo revealed that his only priority at the moment is his football as he is happy and not considering leaving the Giovanni van Bronckhorst-led Rangers side.

Aribo said: "I don’t know. I never knew about anything to be honest, I just focused on football. I’m happy at Rangers, I’ve been happy since I got here and I’ve loved every single minute of it. 

"So I’ve just been focused on here and I just want to stay focused because at the end of the day, I’m a Rangers player and I’m not thinking about leaving because I’m really happy here."

The Super Eagles star is currently with the Nigerian senior team in New Jersey, United States where they are camped in preparation for Friday's friendly match with Ecuador.

Aribo played all 90 minutes of the Super Eagles last match, a 2-1 friendly defeat at the hands of the Mexican senior team at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Sunday May 29.

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The attacking midfielder is expected to make new coach Jose Peseiro's starting line-up again for the fixture with the South Americans.

The Super Eagles take on Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey before departing for Abuja where they will start their AFCON 2023 qualifiers journey with a match with Sierra Leone on Thursday June 9 at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Afterwards, the Super Eagles will travel to Sao Tome and Principe for their second qualifier, following Mauritius' disqualification from the qualifiers.

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