Joe Aribo

Joe Aribo

Aribo playing for Rangers in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Joseph Oluwaseyi Temitope Ayodele-Aribo [1]
Date of birth	(1996-07-21) 21 July 1996 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth	Camberwell, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Southampton
Number	7
Youth career
	Kinetic Academy
	Staines Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2015	Staines Town	22	(0)
2015–2019	Charlton Athletic	81	(14)
2019–2022	Rangers	92	(18)
2022–	Southampton	51	(5)
International career‡
2019–	Nigeria	34	(2)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations Runner-up 2023 Ivory Coast
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:16, 13 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:52, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Joseph Oluwaseyi Temitope Ayodele-Aribo MON (born 21 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Southampton and the Nigeria national team.

He began his club career at Staines Town then spent four years with Charlton Athletic in the English Football League. In 2019 he signed for Rangers, where he won the Scottish Premiership in 2021 and the Scottish Cup a year later.

Born and raised in London, Aribo plays for the Nigeria national team, being eligible due to his heritage. He gained his first cap in 2019, and was part of their squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021 and 2023, finishing as runner-up in the latter tournament.

Club career

Staines Town

Aribo played for Staines Town under Marcus Gayle in the Isthmian League Premier Division, winning the club's academy player of the year award in April 2014. ^[4]

Charlton Athletic

Aribo joined Charlton Athletic in September 2015 following a successful trial, and signed a one-year contract in May 2016. ^[5] He made his first-team debut as a 62nd-minute substitute for Andrew Crofts in a 2–0 defeat to Crawley Town in an EFL Trophy group stage match at The Valley on 16 October 2016. ^[6] His EFL League One debut came on 17 December in a 2–0 home loss to Peterborough United as a 70th-minute replacement for Fredrik Ulvestad, and six days later he extended his contract until 2019. ^[7]

Aribo scored his first career goal on 1 November 2017, the winner in a 3–2 home win over Fulham under-21 in the EFL Trophy group stage. ^[8] His first league goal on 23 December opened a 1–1 draw with Blackpool at The Valley; ^[9] he netted four more goals over the season to help the Addicks to sixth place and the playoffs, including two on 2 April 2018 in a 3–1 win against Rotherham United. ^[10]

Aribo scored in each of the last three games of 2018–19 as Charlton came third, contributing to wins over Scunthorpe United, Gillingham and Rochdale. On 12 May, he then netted in a 2–1 win away to Doncaster Rovers in the first leg of the playoff semi-finals, as his team eventually were promoted. ^[11]

Rangers

Aribo was offered a new contract by Charlton at the end of the 2018–19 season, ^[12] but he instead opted to sign a four-year deal with Scottish Premiership club Rangers. ^[13] He made his competitive debut for the club on 9 July 2019 in a 4–0 win over St Joseph's of Gibraltar in the Europa League; ^[14] eight days later in the second leg he scored his first goal to open a 6–0 win at Ibrox. ^[15] On 25 September, he suffered a head wound from Livingston's Ricki Lamie and was taken off after 20 minutes, receiving 20 stitches and being ruled out for a month; on his return to Almondvale he scored his first league goal in a 2–0 win on 10 November. ^[16]

Aribo contributed seven goals to Rangers' 2020–21 title-winning season, including two in an 8–0 win over Hamilton Academical on 8 November. ^[17] In May, he was singled out for praise by manager Steven Gerrard for playing as an emergency left-back due to Borna Barišić's absence in a 3–0 win at Livingston: "That left-back performance is as good as we have seen in my three years that I have been here. So well done to him for parking his ego and doing a fantastic job for his teammates". ^[18]

In 2021–22, Aribo played 17 Europa League games as Rangers finished runners-up, and he opened the scoring in the 1–1 final draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on 18 May before defeat on penalties. In all competitions, he played 57 games, scored nine goals and assisted 10. ^[19]

Southampton

On 9 July 2022, Aribo joined Southampton and signed a four-year contract. ^{[20] [21]} On 6 August 2022, Aribo made his Premier League debut in Southampton’s 4–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. ^[22] A week later, Aribo scored his first goal for Southampton in their 2–2 draw against Leeds United. ^[23]

International career

In August 2019, Aribo was called up by Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr for a friendly away to Ukraine. ^[24] He made his debut in the game in Dnipro on 10 September, and scored in the fourth minute of the 2–2 draw. ^[25] On 13 October, he scored the Super Eagles' goal in a friendly draw with Brazil in Singapore. ^[26]

At the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Aribo played two group-stage wins and the 1–0 last-16 elimination by Tunisia. ^[27]

Style of play

Aribo is a versatile player who can play centrally or in a wide midfield role. Technically proficient, he is able to use his long legs to shield the ball from opponents effectively. Speaking in October 2016, he said that his strengths were "driving with the ball and getting up the pitch". ^[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Staines Town [lower-alpha 1]	2014–15 [29] [30]	Conference South	22	0	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	25	0
Charlton Athletic	2015–16 [31]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2016–17 [32]	League One	19	0	1	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	22	0
	2017–18 [33]	League One	26	5	1	0	2	0	7 [lower-alpha 4]	1	36	6
	2018–19 [34]	League One	36	9	0	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 5]	1	39	10
	Total		81	14	2	0	2	0	12	2	97	16
Rangers	2019–20 [35]	Scottish Premiership	27	3	3	1	4	1	15 [lower-alpha 6]	4	49	9
	2020–21 [36]	Scottish Premiership	31	7	2	0	1	0	9 [lower-alpha 7]	1	43	8
	2021–22 [37]	Scottish Premiership	34	8	2	0	3	0	18 [lower-alpha 8]	1	57	9
	Total		92	18	7	1	8	1	42	6	149	26
Southampton	2022–23 [38]	Premier League	21	2	3	0	3	0	—		27	2
	2023–24 [39]	Championship	30	3	1	0	1	0	—		32	3
	Total		51	5	4	0	4	0	—		59	5
Career total			246	37	15	1	14	1	55	8	330	47

1. Can't obtain data for the FA Cup third qualifying round replay and FA Trophy third qualifying round.
2. One appearance in FA Trophy
3. Two appearances in EFL Trophy
4. Five appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in League One play-offs
5. Three appearances in League One play-offs
6. Fifteen appearances in UEFA Europa League
7. Nine appearances in UEFA Europa League
8. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, seventeen appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 11 February 2024 ^[40]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2019	4	2
	2020	2	0
	2021	6	0
	2022	9	0
	2023	7	0
	2024	6	0
Total		34	2

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first. ^[40]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 September 2019	Dnipro-Arena, Dnipro, Ukraine	1	Ukraine	1–0	2–2	Friendly
2	13 October 2019	National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore	2	Brazil	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Honours

Charlton Athletic

• EFL League One play-offs: 2019 ^[41]

Rangers

• Scottish Premiership: 2020–21 ^[42]
• Scottish Cup: 2021–22 ^[43]
• Scottish League Cup runner-up: 2019–20 ^[44]
• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2021–22 ^[45]

Nigeria

• Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2023 ^[46]

Individual

• Rangers Young Player of the Year: 2019–20 ^[47]
• Rangers Goal of the Season: 2019–20 ^[47]

Orders

• Member of the Order of the Niger ^[48]

References

1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/08/2015 and 31/08/2015" (PDF). The FA. p. 1. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
2. "Joe Aribo". 11v11. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
3. "Joe Aribo: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
4. Youlton, Clive (14 May 2014). "Staines Town prospect is no ordinary Joe". SurreyLive. Reach. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
5. Jones, George (19 May 2016). "Development squad duo sign new contracts". Charlton Athletic FC. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
6. Jones, George (4 October 2016). "CHECKATRADE TROPHY REPORT | Charlton Athletic 0 Crawley Town 2". Charlton Athletic FC. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
7. "Joe Aribo: Charlton Athletic midfielder extends contract until 2019". BBC Sport. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
8. Thompson, Chris (1 November 2017). "Charlton Athletic 3-2 Fulham". Kent Sports News. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
9. Cawley, Richard (23 December 2017). "Charlton Athletic 1 Blackpool 1 – Joe Aribo grabs first league goal but Robertson pops up with late leveller". London News Online. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
10. Mendez, Louis (2 April 2018). "Charlton Athletic 3-1 Rotherham United: Joe Aribo grabs brace as Bowyer's buoyant start continues". London News Online. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
11. "Charlton Athletic's Joe Aribo Extends Scoring Streak To Four Games". All Nigeria Soccer. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
12. "Charlton Athletic offer Patrick Bauer and Joe Aribo new contracts". BBC Sport. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
13. "Joe Aribo: Rangers sign midfielder from Charlton Athletic". BBC Sport. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
14. Thomas Duncan (9 July 2019). "St Joseph's 0-4 Rangers: Steven Gerrard's team win Europa League qualifier". BBC Sport.
15. Lyall, Jamie (18 July 2019). "Rangers 6–0 St. Joseph's". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
16. Lindsay, Graham (10 November 2019). "Rangers' Joe Aribo has memorable return to Livingston". The Scotsman. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
17. "Rangers hit Hamilton for eight as Celtic revive their hopes with Motherwell win". The Guardian. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
18. Solaja, Femi (14 May 2021). "Gerrard Extols Joe Aribo's Makeshift Role in Rangers Win". This Day. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
19. Erons, Imhons (11 June 2022). ""The man is a machine": Super Eagles star goes clear of Liverpool's Diaz, Mane, and Salah; fans gush in praise". Soccernet.ng. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
20. "Aribo seals Southampton switch". Southampton FC. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
21. "Joe Aribo: Southampton sign Rangers and Nigeria midfielder". BBC Sport. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
22. Bysouth, Alex (6 August 2022). "Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
23. Mann, Mantej (13 August 2022). "Southampton 2–2 Leeds". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
24. Thomas, Adam (14 August 2019). "Joe Aribo handed Nigeria boost as Rangers star given first cap call-up". Daily Record. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
25. Erons, Imhons (10 September 2019). "How debutant Joe Aribo won Super Eagles' fans hearts with Man-of-the-Match performance vs Ukraine". Soccernet.ng. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
26. Bacon, Jake (13 October 2019). "Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo scores excellent goal against a Brazil side featuring Ederson, Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino". Talksport. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
27. "We should have been better: Nigeria's Joe Aribo after loss to Tunisia". Ahram Online. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
28. Jones, George (5 October 2016). "ADDICKS' FUTURE | Getting to know Joe Aribo". Charlton Athleetic FC. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
29. "J. Aribo". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
30. For FA Cup second qualifying round: "Staines Town 5–0 Leverstock Green". Leverstock Green F.C. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
    For FA Cup third qualifying round: Youlton, Clive (11 October 2014). "Bassett lifts Staines Town in FA Cup rescue act". Surrey Live. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
    For FA Trophy third qualifying round replay: Youlton, Clive (3 December 2014). "Staines Town agony over dramatic FA Trophy exit at Poole Town". Surrey Live. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
31. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
32. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
33. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
34. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
35. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
36. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
37. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
38. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
39. "Games played by Joe Aribo in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
40. "Aribo, Joe". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
41. Law, James (26 May 2019). "Charlton Athletic 2–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
42. "Rangers top-flight champions for first time since 2011 after Celtic drop points". BBC Sport. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
43. "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
44. "Rangers 0-1 Celtic: League Cup final 'went my way' - Fraser Forster". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
45. "Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Rangers". BBC Sport. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
46. Stevens, Rob (11 February 2024). "Nigeria 1–2 Ivory Coast". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
47. "Player Of The Year Award Winners Announced". Rangers FC. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
48. "Afcon: Ivory Coast and Nigeria players get cash, villas and honours". BBC News . 13 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.