Rangers Star agrees to the condition that Ibrox will leave for £30,000 a week

Scotland boss Russell Martin has a lot to deal with early in his tenure as the new head coach for the Glasgow Rangers ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

The former Southampton manager needs to build a team that can challenge the Scottish premiership title, with Lyall Cameron already being added to his midfield choice.

However, Martin will need to deal with some of his best players if the team joins for them for them during the summer transfer period.

Fiorentina and Marseille are reportedly keen on Nicholas Ruskin, worth £20 million by the 49ers, with up to six English teams being said to be watching Mohamed Diomande ahead of a possible dip in his service.

Light Blues hasn’t been used to gaining top talent over the years as players have moved from Glasgow and have pursued other options in Europe multiple times in recent seasons.

However, one deal that the Scottish giants hit the jackpot was the sale of Joe Aribo to Southampton, the then Premier League side of the summer of 2022.

Why Ranger hits jackpot with Joe Aribo

Nigeria International was a great player for the Rangers at Ibrox, where he spent three years at the club after joining from Charlton in the summer of 2019.

Aribo scored 26 goals and 25 assists in 149 appearances in all Light Blues tournaments in these three seasons, with his final goal contribution being a goal in the EintraChat Frankfurt in the Europa League final.

The Ranger’s left-footed star form attracted attention from the south, sealing off the then-Premier League move to Southampton in the summer of 2022.

The reported £10 million fee was agreed between the two clubs for the midfielder on the offensive. The midfielder reportedly looked at other teams on top English flights, which turned out to be a great deal for GERS.

As you can see in the table above, the value of Aribo has plummeted to just £5.1 million, according to TransferMarkt, in the three years since the midfield star decided to move from Ibrox.

The 28-year-old, who scored nine goals and provided one assist in 109 games for Southampton, hasn’t kicked on during his spell in England.

The Rangers were able to repeat that masterclass this summer amid speculation that another of their forwards could leave the club in the coming weeks.

Rangers striker is set to move on from Ibrox

According to Soccernet.ng, Cyriel Dessers are poised to complete a permanent exit from the Rangers before the summer transfer period ends.

The report claims that Nigeria International is “set up” to sign Greek giant Aek Athens.

Soccernet.ng adds that the strikers have already verbally agreed to sign the Greek team and are mapping £30K contracts to sign whether the transfer took place this summer.

The outlet has made it clear that the two teams will need to enter into a player’s transfer fee agreement before finalizing the transaction, and has not mentioned how much money it will cost to get it done.

However, Scotland’s Sun recently reported that GERS was postponing the striker who paid £4.5 million to Cremonese in 2023 at a fee of around £5 million.

If Light Blues can agree to a £5 million deal to sell to Aek Athens, whose Soccernet.ng claims are set to join them, that could be Aribo’s repetition.

Why Deser’s Repetition of Aribo

Number 9, 30, was able to follow in Aribo’s footsteps as another star performer who could potentially devalue after leaving the Scottish giant.

According to TransherMarkt, his value has already fallen from £4.2 million at the time of Ibrox’s arrival to £3.4 million at the time of writing (June 2025, 19).

This is despite a very respectable goalscoring return of 51 strikes in 109 Light Blues matches in all competitions over the past two seasons.

His value at Aek Athens could drop even further with TransferMarkt, despite a potential fee of £5 million if the transfer was made this summer.

The Greek team finished fourth in the Super League, scoring only 48 goals, while the Rangers finished second in the Premiership, scoring 80 goals.

As you can see in the table above, the Nigerian striker missed an astounding 60 “big chances” in the Prime Minister, Europa League and Champions League in his first two seasons at Ibrox.

Deserz, who claimed that journalist Josh Bunting was “troubled” to face off for his physicality, scored a decent number of goals for the Ranger.

Therefore, he may struggle to make the same impact on the AEK Athens team who didn’t create or score in as many places as the Rangers did in the 2024/25 campaign.

This means that signing the Greek side could result in a reduced output of Deserz in front of the goal. So, his value could also plummet, especially now that the striker is in his 30s and is heading for later years.

Selling experienced Athens for £5 million could be an aribo repetition for rangers if they can agree to a deal at that price.