Laudrup: Rangers are better without Aribo, Calvin Bassey

Rangers legend Brian Laudrup believes that his old club are now better even after the sale of Nigerian internationals Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey.

The former Danish international stated that though it would have been unthinkable to think of selling both players last season, now that it is done the Ibrox club is better off for it.

Rangers sold Aribo and Bassey to Southampton and Ajax respectively for a combined fee that could rise to up €33m after both players enjoyed an imperious 2021/22 season.

Laudrup agreed that Aribo and Bassey were two of the best players Rangers had during the last season, and many fans would have not wanted them to leave.

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Laudrup told The Scottish Sun: "If you split last season into two halves, there was an argument for Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey being the two best players at Rangers.

"At times, Aribo was almost unplayable prior to Christmas. Bassey then showed astonishing development in the second half of the campaign to make him one of the most sought-after young defenders in Europe.

"A couple of months back, I would have winced at the prospect of both departing Ibrox this summer."

However, Laudrup believes that with the money the Scottish club have got from selling Aribo and Bassey, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been able to sign new, important players.

The 53-year-old Rangers legend stated that the potential the new players bring to Rangers would help the 2021 Scottish champions compete with Celtic for the league again and it might help them win it. 

"I feel it's going to be an incredibly tight contest with Celtic this season. They are the settled side and the reigning champions," Laudrup said.

"But if Giovanni van Bronckhorst can get his new additions to gel as quickly as possible, I think Rangers now have a greater overall depth of quality than they did last season — even without Aribo and Bassey."

Rangers have signed a total of seven first-team players so far this summer with Ben Davies joining from Liverpool for €4.7m. 

Rabbi Matondo, Ridvan Yilmaz, and Antonio Colak all joined for a combined €9.1m. Tom Lawrence, John Souttar, and Malik Tillman all joined the Gers on free transfers this summer.