Joe Aribo news: Serie A club want Southampton star, dilemma amid Flynn Downes arrival | OneFootball

Southampton’s Joe Aribo could be the next player to leave St. Mary’s with interest rising as we approach the end of the window.

A window which has seen the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Tino Livramento, Romeo Lavia and Mohammed Salisu depart, Joe Aribo could be the next big name to leave the club.

After a first taste of senior football with non-league outfit Staines Town, he moved to Charlton Athletic in 2015 where he played more than 80 times in south-east London, helping the Addicks secure promotion to the Championship in his final year at the club.

His next chapter saw him move to Scottish giants Rangers, scoring 18 times in the league while registering more than 100 appearances across domestic and European competitions.

The 27-year-old helped the Gers secure the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup in his three years in Glasgow, while also finishing runners-up in the Europa League to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.

Promising showings caught the eye of Southampton with Aribo moving to the south coast last summer for a reported initial fee of £6 million.

A season to forget for the Saints, however, presented a disappointing debut season for the midfielder while his time at St. Mary's may be short-lived with a move elsewhere on the cards.

Who is interested in Joe Aribo?

According to Football Insider, Italian side Hellas Verona are interested in bringing in the Nigerian international to the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.

The Serie A outfit are looking at a potential loan deal with the option to buy, providing Aribo the opportunity to have another shot at one of Europe’s top leagues.

This comes after game time has been far from what he would have been hoping for since joining the club - recording 13 starts in his debut top-flight campaign while he is yet to start this season.

The midfielder has made two late substitute cameos against Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle while coming on at half-time in the 3-1 EFL cup defeat to Gillingham, highlighting his drop down the pecking order under Russell Martin.

What competition does Joe Aribo face?

Even with the departures of Ward-Prowse, Lavia and Ibrahima Diallo, Aribo has struggled to force his way into the starting eleven. Martin has opted to go for new recruit Shea Charles, Stuart Armstrong, Carlos Alcaraz and Stuart Armstrong from the off instead of Aribo so far this season making it clear that a move may be the best opportunity to earn regular playing time.

The arrival of Flynn Downes from West Ham United only compounds the reality with another face through the door dropping him further down the pecking order.

Elsewhere, a recent update from Russell Martin suggests they will still look to bring in another midfielder regardless of Downes’ arrival meaning the loss of Aribo would create an intriguing dilemma for the new boss’ final recruitment plans.

Speaking to Alfie House of the Daily Echo, he said: “Losing Romeo and Prowsey would suggest that even with Flynn coming in, we could probably do with another body in there at some point.

“I’m not going to pretend, we are looking to add in as many areas as we can to improve the squad but some positions are much more heavily loaded than others.

“I am genuinely relaxed about it because I can’t control it. We want to add a few bodies to the group with good character and good ability.”