The Jermain Defoe Rangers ploy that sealed Joe Aribo transfer as England hero reveals Ibrox star who left him gobsmacked
Jermain Defoe has revealed that it was his phone call that convinced Joe Aribo to sign for Rangers.
The former Premier League goal machine arrived in Govan in an initial 18-month loan deal from Bournemouth in January 2019, where he made an immediate impact for Steven Gerrard 's side, scoring eight goals in his first 20 matches.
That following summer, the Light Blues won the race to sign talented midfielder Aribo at the end of his contract with Charlton, after the future Nigeria and Southampton star reportedly turned down offers from elsewhere in the UK and in Europe to sign on at Ibrox.
And while Liverpool legend Gerrard made a big pitch to bring the playmaker to Glasgow, Defoe insists that it his conversation with Aribo that made all the difference.
Aribo went onto net seven times in the Premiership in the following season as Rangers lifted their 55th league title - stopping Celtic's quest for 10 in a row right in its tracks.
Asked in an interview with Open Goal about the players who impressed him at Rangers the most, he replied: "Joe Aribo.
"I remember speaking to Stevie (Gerrard) and he said: 'J, we need this Joe Aribo' so I said 'let me phone him.'
"I phoned him and said 'trust me, I'm telling you (that) you need to come to Rangers'. And he signed."
Defoe - who recently revealed to Record Sport that Conor Coady IS keen on a move to Rangers - was also blown away by Glen Kamara at Ibrox, who arrived from Dundee just weeks after he headed north of the border from Bournemouth.
"Glen Kamara was at Dundee but I knew he was at Arsenal when he was younger," he said. "In the first training session I shook hands with this kid and thought 'f****** h***, that was a tight grip'.
"But when the training started he took the ball on the back foot and had these hips.
"I then said to the gaffer "who is this kid? where has he been? No disrespect to Dundee and that but from what I saw in that training session, me, Tav (James Tavernier) and Connor (Goldson) were like 'wow, he is a player'.
"There were so many players who impressed me, Tav as well."
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