Glasgow Rangers have a huge advantage over high quality English clubs, due to the opportunity to sign top younger players on a cross-border rule.
As in the case of 23-year-old Joe Aribo, Rangers are reputed to have only paid £250,000 compensation to Charlton Athletic in the summer to bring his special talent to Ibrox.
This cheap deal enabled Steven Gerrard to offer Aribo a decent signing-on-fee, excellent wages and first-team opportunities.
A source has told Football Insider that Stoke City are to begin negotiating a new contract with striker Tyrese Campbell to fend off interest from Rangers.
In the opening half of this season, the England U20’s forward had been on the fringes of the Stoke first team.
Recently re-introduced by new manager Michael O’Neill, he scored as a substitute in the 3-2 Boxing Day win over Sheffield Wednesday.
A couple of days later, he made spectacular progress by scoring twice in the 5-2 New Year’s Day victory over Huddersfield.
In the same week having just turned 20, Campbell seized his opportunity to shine by scoring three goals in two games – what potential.
As an added bonus, O’Neill reckons Campbell has the ability to play all three front positions, so there’s scope for him to perform regularly.
It’s only by playing him often that Stoke can convince him to stay. He needs to know that he can launch a good career with the Midlands club.
As it stands, the second-tier side are likely to lose him when his current deal expires at the end of the season – which could work in Rangers’ favour.
That’s why O’Neill wants to open contract talks to try to fend off interest from Rangers and possible others, this month.
Can Gerrard pull off another masterstroke?
