Rangers had only just got back to pre-season work after basking in the glory of a run to a European final. But before Walter Smith had even got the next campaign started he was signing off on the £9million sale of one his stalwarts to England’s Premier League.
Carlos Cuellar’s move to Aston Villa might have been 14 years ago but Kevin Thomson sees it as an invaluable lesson from history where his old club is concerned, now that Europa League specialist Joe Aribo is on the verge of doing something similar. With Southampton heading the £10m chase for Aribo’s signature, the Nigerian international has been excused from Giovanni van Brockhorst’s training camp in Portugal.
It seems only a matter of time now before a deal is completed which will leave a huge hole in Van Bronckhorst ’s starting XI. But Thomson was there in 2008 when Cuellar was lured across the border. And he is convinced Rangers will recover every bit as quickly if, as seems likely, Aribo’s time in Glasgow has come to an end.
Speaking exclusively to Record Sport Thomson said: “Joe has been a brilliant player and a great servant to the club but he’s only got a year to go on his contract so there was always going to have to be a difficult decision to make. But when you consider they picked him up for three hundred grand a return of £10m has to go down as good business, even though I think he’s potentially worth a wee bit more on that in the open market.
“Look, it’s not going to be easy to replace a guy like that – I think he played more games last season than any other player in world football – so he’s obviously a very important player for the team. He’s also a great lad. I know him from my time working in there and he’s a really humble boy with a great attitude.
“The club has given him a great platform to show his talent and pound for pound he’s been a superb signing. But the club are getting good value for him with only one year left on his contract and, at a club like Rangers, you learn quickly that life goes on.
“After we reached the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester in 2008 we sold Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa for £9m. That felt like a blow at the time because he was such a key player in that European run.
“But Walter Smith then went out and signed Madjid Bougherra who came in and did a great job for the club. That just shows how you can move on so long as you reinvest the money wisely.”
And, in any case, having spent more than three years coaching in the Auchenhowie academy, Thomson is convinced that Aribo’s ready made replacement may already be inside the building. Thomson spent three years nurturing the likes of Leon King, Adam Devine and Cole McKinnon – all of whom are now knocking on the door on the first-team squad.
But it’s the supremely gifted Alex Lowry who Thomson thinks is most ready to burst it down. He went on: “If I was a young lad, like a Lowry or whatever, and I was seeing guys like Aribo moving on then I would be working extra hard in pre-season to try to stop the manager bothering about spending big money on a replacement.
“There’s no doubt in mind that he has all the tools to nail down a regular first-team place. He has everything in his locker to be a top player. People talk about getting chances and opportunities to train with the first team but I think pre-season, in the modern day game, is a real chance to lay down that marker.
“It’s about putting yourself in front of the manager’s nose and showing him how you live your life, how you conduct yourself in the team hotel at dinner, lunch and breakfast. It’s a chance to cement your position in his thoughts and I’d be really surprised if Alex isn’t doing exactly that right now in Portugal.”
“He’s a big talent. He’s probably got the most scope I’ve ever seen in a kid, brain-wise. His football brain is exceptional. He might not have Aribo’s physique but he can run when he wants to run and his game awareness and technical ability is top of the tree. His decision-making has also improved with maturity and when he’s had opportunities in the first team he’s taken them every single time.”
Thomson hopes money raised from Aribo’s sale will help the club to make sure Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent – who are also entering the last year of their current deals – do not follow Aribo out of the door. He said: “It’s about reinvesting the money wisely and I’m sure the manager would like to use some of it to keep Morelos and Kent at the club as he won’t want to lose three certain starters all in one summer.
“You would hope it could be a game changer where these contract talks are concerned. The hope would be that there is now a bit of cash there to allow the club to be creative when it comes to Alfredo and Ryan.”
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