The transfer fee Joe Aribo can earn Rangers as Steven Gerrard exit prediction to be put to the test

The Rangers player trading model is set to be put to the test with Joe Aribo looking like he could be the first major departure of the summer.

It’s a road the Ibrox club have made no secret of their desire to go down by buying low and selling high. Stewart Robertson for one has issued that clarion call. And Aribo falls into that category after Steven Gerrard landed him in a £300,000 cross-border snip from Charlton Athletic three years ago.

Speaking after the Europa League home win over Brondby last season, Gerrard admitted keeping him could be a struggle saying: “thought his first 45 minutes was outstanding. If he can do that regularly, we’ll be lucky to keep him.” But with just one year left on his Rangers contract how much can they realistically expect to rake in for the Nigeria International? A look across the city at transfer business conducted by Celtic just 12 months ago suggests they should certainly be targeting eight figures.

Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer both had less than a year left on their Parkhead deals when the par were sold to Crystal Palace and Brentford for around £14million. That shows Rangers what can be done and they could even break their record sale for Nathan Patterson’s £12m move to Everton midway through last season.

With the money swirling in the cash-rich English Premier League then even the fact Aribo has just a year left on his deal shouldn’t stop them commanding a significant fee, although of course not in as strong a position as they would have been had he extended. Newcastle United have their Saudi billions to play but won’t be held to ransom in the transfer market and Eddie Howe has just signed Burnley keeper Nick Pope for £10m who also had just 12 months left on his contract