Crystal Palace eyeing move for Rangers playmaker
2 min readAfter a year of progress and turning a rather obstinate Crystal Palace squad into something more exciting, it appears that Patrick Vieira and co. are by no means done yet. This summer has already seen the arrival of exciting youngster Malcolm Ebiowei. The young Derby County prospect had many admirers, but it was the South Londoners who managed to get in ahead of the competition. However, that is only the start of what looks to be a busy summer – and the next player in the door could be Joe Aribo.
The Nigerian international shone for Rangers in their Scottish league title win in 2020-21. He then followed that up with some great European performances, not least scoring the opening goal in an eventual loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Final. Knowing for his excellent dribbling and pitch vision, Aribo is the kind of player who could thrive in this ball-playing, possession-happy Palace team.
Aribo would be an interesting hire, and definitely someone who would help to fill in the gap of Conor Gallagher. And while the former Charlton Athletic man never ripped up the Scottish league the way that Odsonne Edouard did, he was a key performer for Rangers more or less since his arrival.
Born in London and already a proven product within the English game, too, there is no reason for Palace to worry about the player failing to settle. A chance to mov back to the capital would appeal to the 23-year-old, and with just a year left on his deal Palace would be hoping to pick the player up for around £10m.
Given his talent and his ability shown up in Glasgow, that would be a great price for a player who still has so much more development to come.
Palace expecting busy summer after Gallagher failure
One player that all Palace fans wanted to see back next year was Gallagher. However, this has been more or less ruled out as Chelsea look to make sure the player is part of their plans next season. Seen as the next academy star from Cobham who can break into the Chelsea XI, Gallagher is highly unlikely to be returning back to the club in the season to come.
Aribo, though, would mark a decent replacement. He would offer the athleticism and the power in midfield that is needed, and he is no stranger to a silky pass or a shot from distance. This makes Aribo quite the ideal fit in the current Palace midfield. He might not do the same things as Gallagher, but he is a high-performance player who is more than capable of making things stick on the offensive end.
The team needs to get moving soon, though, with pre-season not too far away. The arrival of a young prospect in Ebiowei is exciting, but the team needs players who can contribute today as opposed to tomorrow. Aribo would tick most boxes when it comes to age, profile, fit, and value.