Lee Bowyer takes back his infamous comments on Joe Aribo move to Rangers

Former Charlton boss Lee Bowyer has admitted that Joe Aribo was right to move to Rangers for his career progression after he was critical of the move to Scotland insisting it would harm Aribo’s progression as a player.

The Legendary Leeds United midfielder and former Newcastle and Birmingham man was the manager of Aribo at Charlton before he switched to Ibrox and at the time he rejected a new contract.

After seeing the midfielder in the Europa League final and signing for Premier League side Southampton, the tactician has backtracked on his comments.

“Obviously from a selfish point I wanted him to stay with me and Charlton. He was going in a direction as a player, improving all the time and scoring goals,” Bowyer told talkSPORT.

“He was just a sub at Charlton when I first went in there and then all of a sudden he’s talking about going up to Rangers.

“I felt a bit hurt by it because I thought ‘hold on, I’ve looked after you here and I’ve pushed you and got you to have that option. Just give me a year in the Championship’.

“Which would’ve been also good for his career. It’s rewarding for me because I helped him get on that journey.”

The 26-year-old Nigeria international spent three seasons with Rangers, making 148 appearances scoring 26 goals and notching 25 assists.

He won the Scottish Premiership in his second season and Cup with the club and played in the Europa League showpiece in May 2022, where they lost to Frankfurt, before he later joined Southampton in a £10.5m deal.