Joe Aribo transfer to Rangers had my gutted pal spouting off but only because of how good he is - Barry Ferguson

I remember laughing to myself when Lee Bowyer warned Joe Aribo that he would ruin his career by leaving Charlton for Rangers.

It wasn’t so much that I found it funny. It wasn’t. It was just that I know my old Birmingham City team-mate would have had his tongue planted in his cheek when he said it. Trust me, Bow knows how massive Rangers are and I know that because we used to talk about the club during our time together.

So when he had a go at Aribo for choosing Rangers it was more a matter of him spouting off because he was so disappointed at losing a player of that calibre than it was about being disrespectful to my old club. He was gutted when Aribo moved on and no wonder. He knew fine well Rangers had stolen him for £300,000. Bow realised the size of Aribo’s potential and the fact of the matter is, four years on, that potential has been well and truly fulfilled. He will now return south of the border as a £10million Premier League player, a goalscorer in a European final and a poster boy for the Nigerian international team. Not a bad return from a transfer that was supposed to ruin his career.

I’m sure Bow will be having a chuckle to himself when Aribo does put pen to paper on that contract at Southampton because, as predictions go, he couldn’t have got this one more badly wrong. But, as much as it will be a sad day for Rangers supporters to see him wearing someone else’s shirt, there is a massive plus side to this move and it’s not just the size of the cheque that’s about to drop onto Ross Wilson’s desk.

No, Aribo is now living, breathing proof that the trading model the club have put in place is actually coming to fruition. Young, talented players down south will look at how Rangers have taken his career to