{"id":240272,"date":"2025-07-05T14:11:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T14:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/240272\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T14:11:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T14:11:21","slug":"i-saw-off-vinicius-jr-at-the-bernabeu-but-rangers-are-going-to-see-the-best-of-me-for-one-key-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/240272\/","title":{"rendered":"I saw off Vinicius Jr at the Bernabeu but Rangers are going to see the best of me for one key reason"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Aarons endured a tough time on loan at Valencia last season – but had one stand-out momentMax Aarons (left) squares off against Vinicius Junior(Image: M Gracia Jimenez\/Soccrates\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Max Aarons found himself hurled in at the Bernabeu deep end last season.<\/p>\n

Now the new Rangers<\/a> loan recruit admits it\u2019s sink or swim time as he looks to get his career back on track at Ibrox.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old was once a Premier League regular after clocking up almost a century of top-flight appearances with Norwich and current parent club Bournemouth.<\/p>\n

But last season the right-back found himself having to move to Valencia on loan as his opportunities dwindled at Deans Gate.<\/p>\n

His La Liga stint proved to be just as frustrating, however, as he was limited to just five run-outs for the Mestalla men.<\/p>\n

Joining the Blanquinegros in January, Aarons<\/a> was afforded a couple of early opportunities in back-to-back clashes with Barcelona.<\/p>\n

But after seeing his new side ship TWELVE goals over two games to the ruthless Catalan Kings, he was left kicking his heels on the sidelines for another two months.<\/p>\n

He was finally thrust back into action in early April, when out of the blue he was handed one of the toughest assignments in world football after being tasked with halting Real Madrid<\/a> superstar Vinicius Junior in the Spanish capital.<\/p>\n

This time, though, Aarons stood up to the test as he helped Valencia claim a shock 2-1 win over the Galacticos.<\/p>\n

It was a welcome pick-me-up after a frustrating spell – and an experience Aarons believes can help as he bids to help Rangers survive in the shark-infested waters that lie between Russell Martin\u2019s<\/a> men and the Champions League.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cI think in the seasons before I’d played near enough 40 games each season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was probably the experience that got me through at that point because I hadn’t played for months before being thrown in what would probably be one of the toughest games in Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt great until the 75th minute when the legs went! But, yes, it was a really good game and a successful night.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, yeah, that was amazing. Those games and those little bits of experience that you pick up along the way stand you in good stead to come to a club like this with this expectation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, going abroad helped me massively. I obviously went there to play, but everything else, from a life point of view and experience, on and off the pitch, it taught me a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cValencia is a big club there as well with a lot of expectation. When I went there, we were down at the bottom but it was still a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Aarons admits he had to think even more carefully about this latest loan switch to Glasgow having seen his game-time dry up last term.<\/p>\n

Max Aarons<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cYeah for sure. Listen I wasn\u2019t getting the games at Bournemouth last season that I\u2019d have been happy with so I obviously went on loan to Valencia, where it was a similar situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m coming in here off the back of not playing as many games as I wanted to last season. But for most of my career, I\u2019ve played minimum 40-odd games a season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I feel that with the build-up in the pre-season games and into the season at full fitness I can make a good start. I\u2019m coming in fresh from last season as well, so I\u2019m ready to contribute hopefully in a massive way to a successful season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a really important season for me. I didn\u2019t play a lot of games last season but I\u2019ve drawn a line under that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m coming in here and hopefully Rangers fans will definitely see the best version of me – the me of two years ago, when I felt I was at my best.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully coming in with a freshness as well, I think will be really good. This is a huge, huge club. So, I’m honestly delighted to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aarons certainly knows what winning involves having claimed European Under-21 gold with England in 2023.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s looking to add Scottish silverware to a medal collection that also boasts an English Championship triumph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some success with the England Under-21 team and at Norwich, winning the Championship, so I know what that takes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe my qualities here will fit very well. Like I said, I know the size of the challenge here at Rangers but I also believe I\u2019m coming to a point in my career where I\u2019ve got some good experience behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I\u2019ve played almost 100 Premier League games and I feel like I can use that. They say there is a pressure to play here but I believe I\u2019ll be fine to deal with that and the football will shine through.<\/p>\n

\"RangersRangers have signed Max Aarons on loan from Bournemouth<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chance to play in the Champions League was huge too. Obviously, having watched some of the European nights that this club has had in recent years as well was huge in that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts very soon. Now that we’re over a week into pre-season, I can see that we’re all fully tuned in on knowing the prospect ahead and what can be achieved if we have a successful run.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I’m really looking forward to it and for sure that was a big factor in coming to this club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aarons and his new team-mates don\u2019t have long to get to grips with Martin\u2019s new possession-heavy tactics – but he\u2019s excited about what the new gaffer has planned.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cKnowing his style and knowing what he wants, it’s always been something that as a player you want \u2014 to play in a system that really suits your game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving watched and played against his teams, I’ve always had that in the back of my mind that I’d love to play in that system.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving now come in here, I can also see what you don’t see from the outside \u2014 the demands that he has of wanting to succeed and wanting to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew about his teams on the ball and knowing what he wants off the ball as well, you, to be relentless. I think it’s very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Aarons endured a tough time on loan at Valencia last season – but had one stand-out momentMax…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[1614,94,45135,1946,37715,6168,28104,1061,79,10107,16,15,9433],"class_list":{"0":"post-240272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-champions-league","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-max-aarons","11":"tag-rangers-fc","12":"tag-rangers-fc-transfer-news","13":"tag-real-madrid-cf","14":"tag-russell-martin","15":"tag-spanish-la-liga","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-transfer-talk","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-valencia-cf"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114801035554338192","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}