With the January transfer window only a few weeks away, Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl will already be thinking about the positions that he wants to strengthen in.

There are several areas of the squad that could do with improvement ahead of the second half of the season, given that the Gers are nine points adrift of first place, and attacking midfielder is one of those positions.

Thelo Aasgaard was brought in from Luton in the summer transfer window, as one of 12 arrivals, and the number ten has failed to deliver regular quality on the pitch, with as many red cards (one) as goals (one).

The Norway international has produced one goal and one assist in 22 appearances, per Transfermarkt for Rangers, and his assist was a simple pass to Djeidi Gassama, who raced forward and scored from distance against Dundee.

Rangers told to sign Championship star in January

Now, the Light Blues have been predicted to make a move to re-sign one of their former players, who would arrive at Ibrox as an upgrade on Aasgaard.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard, as relayed by The Scottish Sun, Livingston first-team coach Marvin Bartley has tipped Rangers to bring Joe Aribo back to the club in the January transfer window.

When asked about a possible deal, Bartley said: “I think that is one that could happen.”

“When a player enjoys somewhere, and obviously he had to leave because it was a really good offer that he got down the road, and he has not played as much football as he wanted to play. He is still a really, really good footballer and did well for Rangers. I wouldn’t be massively shocked if he came back in January.”

The Scottish Sun explains that Aribo is reportedly set to leave Southampton, whom he joined from Rangers for £10m in 2022, and could be available for a fee of £1.5m, amid interest from teams in Turkey.

Why Rangers should bring Joe Aribo back to Ibrox

For a fee of £1.5m, a deal to bring the Nigeria international back to Ibrox seems like a no-brainer on paper, because he still has plenty left to give at the age of 29 and has already proven himself in a Rangers shirt.

Plenty of players, most recently Steven Davis, Leon Balogun, and Allan McGregor, have returned for second spells in Glasgow, so it is not out of the ordinary for the club to re-sign one of their former stars.

Aribo’s current availability, as he has not started a league game for Southampton this season, provides the Light Blues with the perfect chance to bring him back for a fraction of the fee they raked in for him in 2022.

The left-footed star is a proven performer in Scottish football. During his time at Ibrox, the 29-year-old midfielder scored 26 goals and provided 25 assists in 149 appearances in all competitions, per Transfermarkt.

This shows that the £70k-per-week ace offered a regular threat at the top end of the pitch as both a scorer and a creator of goals for the Ibrox giants, whilst playing as a central midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, or on the right wing.

21/22

8

6

20/21

7

4

19/20

3

8

Total

18

18

As you can see in the table above, Aribo was as impressive at scoring goals as he was at creating them in the Premiership during his three season stint in Glasgow, which shows that he knows how to deliver quality in the top-flight.

Aasgaard, however, has failed to show that he has what it takes to be a consistent and reliable performer for Rangers in any competition, let alone the Premiership, which is why Rohl should be looking for an upgrade on him in January.

Aribo, who Ezri Konsa said has a “languid” style, has scored nine goals in 111 matches for Southampton to date, per Transfermarkt. He has not been as prolific as he was for the Gers, but 53 of those games came in the Premier League against high-quality opposition.

However, returning to the Premiership could reignite his career because it is a level that he is comfortable at and knows how to perform in, as evidenced by his time with the Gers before he moved to England.

Rohl must replace Rangers star who's having an "amazing time" at Ibrox

Danny Rohl must replace this Glasgow Rangers star when the January transfer window opens for business.

ByDan Emery 3 days ago

Therefore, Aribo could return to Ibrox as a big upgrade on Aasgaard in the number ten position as a player who can deliver goals and assists, to win crucial points for the team, on a regular basis, whilst the Norwegian has struggled on both fronts.

Zak Foulkes made a huge impact in New Zealand’s 3-0 sweep of England and Peter Fulton expects him to be an all-format allrounder soon

Deivarayan Muthu04-Nov-2025The OG swing kings Trent Boult and Tim Southee are done with their New Zealand playing careers. Matt Henry is currently on the sidelines with an injury, and is approaching the wrong side of 30. But there’s a new swing bowler in New Zealand cricket. Meet 23-year-old Zak Foulkes, who is “almost Trent Boult-ish,” according to New Zealand bowling coach Jacob Oram.In his first ODI bowling innings in Mount Maunganui against England last month, Foulkes made the world sit up and take notice of his swing, more specifically his late swing, when he stormed through the defences of Joe Root with a hooping inswinger in his first over. It was full, but not a drive ball, and veered back in late to make a world-class batter look like an amateur. The wind was blowing from left to right and Foulkes harnessed it to his advantage like Southee and Boult used to do back in the day. Then, in the third ODI in Wellington, Foulkes bested Root with another booming inswinger, this one rapping his pads.Foulkes made a huge impact in New Zealand’s 3-0 sweep of England, coming away with seven wickets in three innings at an average of 14.42 and economy rate of 5.05. Only Blair Tickner took more wickets than Foulkes.Related

Jacob Duffy makes big impact at small Eden Park

Chapman stars as New Zealand survive West Indies scare to level series

United by a new world order, NZ and WI meet once more

New Zealand's pace depth maintains formidable home record

Tickner and Foulkes seal tense win to complete 3-0 sweep

Foulkes’ stock ball to the right-hand batter is the inswinger and to the left-hand batter, it’s the outswinger. After his 4 for 41 in the first ODI, Oram was so impressed with Foulkes that he likened his skills to Boult’s.”It’s his talent and composure,” Oram said. “We know he can swing it at a decent enough pace – mid-130s – and he’s got a bit of a funky release point, which is a bit different for batters to get used to. The fact that he swings it and swings it late is so handy and you saw that ball to Root that went late through the gate and also to left-handers. It’s tough to play, almost Trent Boult-ish with the swing away from the lefties to play and when he gets it right, it’s hard for batters to overcome.”Late swing is Foulkes’ forte, according to former New Zealand batter and current Canterbury head coach Peter Fulton, who has had a front-row seat to Foulkes’ rise from domestic cricket to the New Zealand team.

“His action is just a little bit unusual – he doesn’t quite bowl off the wrong foot, but I think just the nature of his action means he rushes on to guys a bit quicker than probably what the speed gun shows”Peter Fulton on Zak Foulkes

“Look, he swings the ball late, which is a really good attribute to have,” Fulton tells ESPNcricinfo. “Probably, there’s not too many players in international cricket that swing it into the right-hander the way or as much as what he does. So I guess that gives him a little bit of an advantage because it’s not that common.”Foulkes usually operates in the lower 130-kph range, but has the tendency to get the ball to skid off the pitch and hit the bat hard.”Probably the other advantage he has is his action is just a little bit unusual – he doesn’t quite bowl off the wrong foot, but I think just the nature of his action means he rushes on to guys a bit quicker than probably what the speed gun shows,” Fulton says. “So yeah, he’s certainly a little bit quicker than probably what he appears to be.”There was a bit of a running gag that Foulkes could only dismiss left-hand batters – “[Mitchell] Santner was leading that charge,” Foulkes had joked at a press conference – but the twin dismissals of Root provided ample proof of his ability against right-hand batters.Zak Foulkes can bat too, but hasn’t got too many chances to prove that internationally yet•AFP/Getty Images”There’s strengths and weaknesses for every bowler,” Fulton says. “He’s been very, very dangerous to left-handers [in domestic cricket], especially with the ball swinging from around the wicket. But there’s no reason why he can’t be equally as threatening to right-handers. He’s got Joe Root twice now, who is obviously one of the top batsmen in the world. So, Zak is certainly not a one-trick pony.”In his first full Super Smash season, Foulkes was entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the difficult overs and he responded by emerging as Canterbury’s joint-highest wicket-taker, with 12 strikes at an economy rate of 7.36 in their run to the final. Two years on, he took a match haul of nine wickets on Test debut in Zimbabwe and made a striking impression against England in his first ODI innings.Club and T20 stints in England have contributed to his development as a bowler. Besides playing for Warwickshire and Durham in the T20 Blast, Foulkes has turned out for Lytham, a club that Fulton had also played for in the past, as an overseas professional.

“I have no doubt in the next two or three years, if he gets those opportunities with the bat, then hopefully he can be the guy that maybe bats at seven in all three forms for New Zealand”Peter Fulton on Zak Foulkes’ batting

“It [playing in England] definitely helped,” Foulkes said at his press conference after the first ODI against England. “Just being around the type of guys like… played a few games with Jacob Bethell a couple of years ago and played with Matt Potts at Durham. Familiar with a few players, which is cool, and you just learn as much as possible from those guys and hopefully holds me in good stead to go forward.”Foulkes hails from a cricketing family – his father Glen and his brothers Liam and Robbie have all represented Canterbury country. Robbie also played for New Zealand in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.Fulton reckons that Foulkes’ time away from his family in New Zealand and taking on the responsibility as an overseas professional in England have also shaped Foulkes as a person.”It was probably just a good life experience for him to be away from friends and family,” Fulton says. “I suppose, you have to sort of stand on your own two feet. I was happy to obviously send him to a club where I knew people and knew he was going to have a good experience. Then he picked up some county opportunities with Warwickshire and with the [Birmingham] Bears. So, those sorts of experiences have probably also helped him as a cricketer. I’m sure it’s definitely helped him as he’s made that transition to international cricket.”Foulkes is also a capable batter. He had slotted in at No. 3 for St Andrew’s College in the Gillette Cup, a one-day competition for secondary schools boys, before bowling became his primary skill. In the third ODI against England in Wellington, he showed his batting chops with an unbeaten 14 off 24 from No. 9, which helped seal New Zealand’s 3-0 series win. Fulton believes that Foulkes’ ceiling is so high that he can bat at No. 7 and become an all-format player for New Zealand in the future.Ben Foulkes’ emergence will give New Zealand’s selectors a happy headache when the likes of Will O’Rourke, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears and Adam Milne are back•Getty Images”I think all through age-group cricket and high school cricket, Zak was probably more of a batsman,” Fulton says. “He probably bowled medium pace. He finished school and maybe just got a little bit fitter and stronger and decided to run in a little bit harder and try to bowl a bit quicker. Yeah, the part about his game that really excites me is his batting; there’s a lot of potential there.”He’s shown glimpses of that at first-class level for Canterbury, but he just hasn’t had the opportunities in international cricket yet. I have no doubt in the next two or three years, if he gets those opportunities with the bat, then hopefully he can be the guy that maybe bats at seven in all three forms for New Zealand.”Foulkes’ immediate challenge is a five-match T20I series against West Indies, who are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh in Bangladesh.”They [West Indies] are obviously a great team and they have been in Bangladesh recently,” Foulkes said on the eve of the first T20I in Auckland. “We know they’re going to come pretty hard with the bat, especially in this T20 stuff. Things I’m expecting as well, which is quite cool.”Foulkes’ emergence will give New Zealand’s selectors a happy headache when the likes of Will O’Rourke, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears and Adam Milne are fit. It’s also a reflection of New Zealand’s depth despite a limited talent pool.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!