Joe Aribo at transfer crossroads as Rangers hero sent Southampton exit signal in Nathan Jones 'passengers' warning

The Nigeria international has fallen down the pecking order at St Mary's in recent weeks.

Midfielder Joe Aribo is facing the prospect of being dumped by Southampton less than than eight months after writing his name into Rangers history by netting in the Europa League final.

The Nigeria international left Ibrox behind after a successful stint north of the border as he made a dream move to the English Premier League with a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup winners medal in his pocket. The 26-year-old also netted the first goal in the the European final showdown with Eintracht Frankfurt and was a key part of the side that took the Light Blues' on their momentous run to Sevilla.

After departing Rangers Aribo got off to a bright start under then-Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, starting 10 of his first 14 games on the south coast and proving to be a key performer during some impressive early-season displays. However, things have quickly fallen apart for the playmaker since Nathan Jones' arrival.

With the club in the midst over a relegation scrap, Jones has moved to reshape his squad with Charly Alcaraz arriving from Argentinian side Racing Club this month and immediately taking Aribo's spot in the starting line-up. Since then, Aribo has failed to make an appearance in the last four games, and was not even named on the bench for the League Cup semi-final defeat to Newcastle United.

Since the defeat, Jones has openly admitted he wants to move on some of his fringe players and add before the window slams shut. Speaking after defeat on the south coast, Jones said: “Look, what we have to do is keep moving everyone forward.

“What we can’t do is literally just hold a load of players and keep them. Because then you have passengers and passengers become problematic in the end. So you can’t do that. We want a small tight squad but we need certain things in the squad.

"We need certain things improved in the squad in terms of maybe a little bit of size, maybe a little bit more aggression, maybe a tiny bit more quality to add a bit of potency. And once we’ve got that then yeah, we can make a decision on if we need to move people out - if that’s in the best interest of them and the club."

With Aribo tumbling out of the matchday squad, it's almost certain Jones would be happy to get the player off the books at the club this month. However, it remains to be seen if the midfielder will stick it out and hope for a second chance or look to kickstart his career elsewhere.

READ NEXT