Steven Gerrard says Rangers bargain Joe Aribo can go right to the very top

Even in his early displays for Rangers, he has made the reported £300,000 that changed hands to bring the midfielder north due to cross-border rules seem like larceny on a grand scale. But Rangers don’t make the rules, the have simply benefited from them.

For Gerrard, that fact will only become more and more apparent as Aribo’s Ibrox career unfolds, believing that with the right nurturing and development, the 22-year-old can eventually go all the way to the top.

“He’s got potential to be a top, top midfielder for sure,” Gerrard said. “He’s got all the attributes.

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“He’s still young and has got a lot to learn. He’s still raw and we’ve got to shape him round the ages and help him tactically and positionally. But it’s a hell of a coup to have him and I think in the future that will be proven.

“I don't think I should put a price tag on a young player like that, but it would be a lot more than we paid for him. Yeah, a hell of a lot more.

“He gives us balance on the left side of midfield, he's got the profile we didn't have and he's willing to take the ball in tight spaces.

“He can burst past players, he can out-play them. He's strong and works tirelessly for the team.

“He'll compete, he's aggressive and makes the right decisions. For someone so young he ticks a lot of boxes.

“I'm just glad I've got the chance to work with him. But what a place for him to develop in front of 51,000 on European nights, Old Firm games, tough matches up and down the country.

“What a place this is for the next stage of his career. This is the perfect place for him.”

A little bit further along his path as a professional player, but a little bit behind in terms of his match-fitness, is the latest arrival at Rangers, Filip Helander.

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It took a fair bit more money to prise the defender away from Bologna than it did to bring Aribo to Ibrox from Charlton, but Gerrard is also sure that in time, that £3.5m will look like money well spent.

“I’m very keen to get him into the team, because we know he’s a good player, an international player, and a very good centre-half for us moving forward,” he said.

“We also want to be very careful because the lads in the dressing room are probably three weeks ahead.

“I’ve been on record saying that we’ll put him in when he’s ready to play and perform, but he will get cameos in the friendly games that are coming up to get his sharpness back.

“We’re delighted to have him. He gives us four really good, strong options in the backline now.

“He’s left-footed, he’s tall, he’s dominant in the air and he’s a good passer, so he’s another strong centre-half option for us.

“He’s a good age as well, we’ve got two young ones in there in George (Edmundson) and Nikola (Katic). Connor (Goldson) is as bit more experienced and Filip is alongside him in being a bit more experienced.

“We’ve got a good blend in there now.”

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The natural presumption may be that the big-ticket defenders, Helander and Goldson, will automatically form Gerrard’s first-choice partnership at the heart of the backline, but he was keen to stress that won’t necessarily be the case.

“I don’t pick on name or price-tag, not at all,” he said. “I don’t pick on reputation, I pick on form and what I see from day-to-day.

“I pick players who I trust, and I think I’ve shown over the last 12 months that I’m not afraid to pick a team I think will get the job done.

“I don’t have favourites and I don’t have people who are stonewallers for the shirt. People might have a different opinion on that because I pick some players more than others, but if you’re in form then it gives you a better chance of getting a shirt, of course. But no one is a shoe-in to get into this 11 unless they deserve it.

“Of course, that’s the way it should be at a club the size of Rangers with the history and success they have had over the years, it shouldn’t be easy to get a shirt in the 11 for Rangers.

“The competition has really heated up in the summer because of the additions, the intensity and the level of training has gone up and that’s good, that’s positive.

“You do leave yourself wide open if you have a dip in form or if you don’t do the shirt justice when you go out there, because there’s a player that’s just as good that’s ready to take their chance.”