Joe Aribo has left Southampton after four years. Promotion, two relegations, and not many easy moments in between.
Feels like the right time for a look back rather than just moving on.
A career that deserved more
Aribo arrived in 2022 with a Scottish league title and a Europa League final behind him. He had won the Scottish Premiership with Rangers in 2020-21, their first league title in a decade, and scored in the 2022 Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville, a match Rangers lost on penalties. Rangers fans still talk about that goal.
Southampton hoped some of that European pedigree would rub off at St Mary's. For a while, it did. The 2023-24 season was the standout one.
Forty appearances, four goals, and Southampton won promotion back to the Premier League under Russell Martin.
His first Southampton goal came in a 2-2 draw against Leeds United, and he played in the play-off final win over the same opponents at Wembley that secured promotion.
Should have been the springboard for something lasting.
When things fell apart
Instead, the following season brought the heaviest relegation Southampton had suffered in years. Aribo became a peripheral figure as the club picked up just 12 points from 38 Premier League games.
He was honest about it in an interview with the Daily Echo after a 2-1 defeat against Wolves. "I'm a winner, and it's just a difficult time in my career for me," he said. "I think the boys have to stick together."
His last season brought just seven Championship appearances and 111 minutes. Aribo was an outcast under Will Still, and the impact on fellow countryman Samuel Edozie appeared to be a negative one, too. At that time, it looked like both would be gone in January.
When Aribo turned his back on a long-range shot at Millwall that found the top corner, Saints fans had seen enough, and the Nigerian was vilified across social media. Tonda Eckert offered a different view.
A loan to Leicester gave him one start and 130 minutes before the Foxes went down. Four years, 111 appearances, one promotion, two relegations. Not the story either side had in mind back in 2022.
Southampton thanked him for his contribution and his professionalism. Fair enough, he deserved that much.
Aribo gave this club a Europa League finalist and a Premier League title winner. Southampton never really found the platform to get the best out of those qualities consistently. Sometimes football just works out that way.
He leaves as a free agent at 29, having played in ten different positions for the St Mary's club, including two at centre-back in the Premier League!
Aribo ended his Southampton career low on confidence and out of form. His languid style seemed lazy and uninspired. In the end, Saints fans were very happy to see him go.
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