Aluko reaches into his own pocket to help seal dream Rangers move

The Nigerian international winger has joined the Scottish champions until the end of the season with the option of a further two-year contract if he impresses during the initial period at Ibrox.

Aluko had been without a club since leaving Pittodrie in the summer. Aberdeen insisted they were due a Fifa player development compensation fee for the 22-year-old, who had joined them as a teenager from Birmingham City in 2008.

A deal which could be worth around £100,000 to Aberdeen, dependent on Aluko’s progress at Rangers, was thrashed out yesterday with the player understood to have foregone some of his signing-on fee in the process.

“There was a bit of a stand-off between the clubs for a while over compensation and that could have dragged on with tribunals and all the rest,” said Aluko. “But at some point someone is going to have to compromise and make a sacrifice and I’m the one who did that.

“I’ve almost bent over backwards to be here. Once I got the chance, I was adamant I wanted to be at Rangers and I can’t thank the people around me enough for helping me get here.”

Aluko had been training with Rangers for the past ten days and scored earlier this week in a closed-door friendly match against St Mirren. He did enough to impress manager Ally McCoist, who was seeking reinforcement in the wide areas of his team following the season-ending knee injury sustained by Steven Naismith.

“It was great to get everything sorted out and as soon as I got the opportunity to come here, it was what I wanted,” added Aluko, who will go straight into the Rangers squad for their match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday.

“Anyone who has played in Scotland for longer than five minutes knows all about Rangers and Celtic and this is the biggest team in the country in my opinion. I had three days to wait before I actually got to come here for my trial so I’d had a chance to calm down by the time I arrived.

“I’ve not played a lot in the last four months but I knew that if I got an opportunity like this I had to be ready for it so I’ve kept working hard. Now I’m ready to play if the manager needs me. I’ll do that any time and although I’m a bit behind the boys, I’ll do my best and give my all.”

Rangers first-team coach Ian Durrant is confident Aluko will prove to be a significant contributor to the Ibrox side as they look to maintain their advantage at the top of the SPL.

“I hope he will add a spark to the team,” said Durrant. “From what we have seen in training, and in the bounce game against St Mirren, he will be a great addition. Steven Naismith is a big loss for us, but we have to get on with it and Sone will be a great tonic for all of the boys.

“There will be a bit of pressure on him, what with the Rangers-Aberdeen rivalry, I can tell you that right now. He will certainly get pelters when we next go to Pittodrie. That’s fine, he can take the heat off me for a change! He has made the decision he wants to play for Rangers and good luck to him. He will do well for Rangers, no doubt about it.

“He has good tricks and electric pace. You could say the one thing he didn’t have when he was at Aberdeen was consistency, but it’s easy to forget he was only 18 or 19 when he went there. He is 22 now, so we have lots to gain.

“He is in the Gregg Wylde mould, he has fantastic pace which gets you up the park a hell of a lot quicker. When you are confronted with five men across the middle of the pitch, as some teams are doing against us just now, you can labour. But if you have blistering pace on either wing, or through the middle, it can get you up the park in one or two quick passes.”

Aluko becomes McCoist’s eighth signing as Rangers manager, following the summer recruitment of Juan Manuel Ortiz, Lee Wallace, Dorin Goian, Carlos Bocanegra, Alejandro Bedoya, Kyle Bartley and Matt McKay.

But Durrant admits the Ibrox coaching staff are apprehensive about the potential for losing key players during the January transfer window. Striker Nikica Jelavic and midfielder Maurice Edu are among those already linked with moves to English football and Durrant is aware Rangers’ current financial situation leaves them vulnerable to offers.

“It’s been the same every January for the last four years,” he said. “We wish we could rub it off the calendar. But it’s outwith our control and whatever happens will happen. We can only do what we can on the pitch and if we have our current squad available, then nine times out of ten we will do okay.

“But if clubs come in with ridiculous bids, the club will have to look at them. But the manager and chairman are in dialogue and we want to keep the squad together, then try to freshen it up next year.”