Charlton manager Lee Bowyer has revealed that Brentford made an approach for Joe Aribo just days before his move to Rangers, and the Addicks boss believes that that would have been a better move for the midfielder.

Rangers confirmed on Thursday that they had completed the signing of the 22-year-old on a four year deal, only a matter of days after Bowyer had claimed that a move to Ibrox would be a bad move for his career.

Now Bowyer has revealed that there was an opportunity for Aribo to stay in England after Brentford made an approach for the midfielder, something which Bowyer claims Aribo's agent did not tell the player about.

Speaking to Talksport about Brentford's move for Aribo, Bowyer said: “For me, Joe should have stayed in England. I wanted him to make the right decision on footballing terms, a stepping stone for him.

“Brentford came to us two days ago asking about Joe. They said they tried for him. Joe wasn’t even aware Brentford were interested in him. His agent should have told him. That’s wrong."

Discussing Aribo's move to Rangers, Bowyer maintained his claim that the move was a mistake for the midfielder, claiming: “But I believe moving to Rangers is the wrong move for him, and it’s not in a disrespectful way. Rangers is a massive club, they’ve got great tradition and a great manager in Steven Gerrard.

“For me, the only positive for Joe going to Rangers would be working under Gerrard – maybe that’s the reason why he’s gone there, because Gerrard will make him a better player.

“Tell me how many players over the last few years that have gone to Rangers and then gone on to the Premier League – there hasn’t been many."

Aribo joined Charlton from non-league Staines Town in 2016, and has gone onto make 97 appearances and score 16 goals in all competitions for the Addicks, helping them win promotion to the Championship via the League One play-offs last season.

The Verdict

This is a difficult one to call.

There is an argument to that Aribo would have been better off staying in England at Brentford, given the more direct link to the Premier League, and indeed the size of a number of clubs in the Championship in comparison to those outside the Old Firm in Scotland

By contrast, silverware is silverware and Aribo has a better chance of experiencing the feeling of that on a regular basis at Rangers, who should also be able to give him the opportunity of European football, which would also have been some way away had he remained in the Championship.

One thing that is for certain is that Aribo should have been told about the option to move to Brentford, in order to know all the options that were available to him upon making his decision.