Rangers player trading model has a standout poster boy in the much-missed Calvin Bassey.
Signed for a meagre development fee of around £230,000 four years ago on the 6th of June, little was expected of a player who had never stepped foot onto a pitch in senior football.
What was clear from day one, was that he was a physical specimen, little did we know what was going to happen over the course of the following two seasons as Rangers look to unearth another Calvin Bassey this summer.
Calvin Bassey signing recall serves as Rangers transfer reminder
Nils Koppen has been busy already and there are new, exciting young talents being linked all the time.
It is a strategy that Philippe Clement is fully on board with and how he would love a player like Bassey to be discovered in this transfer window.
Thomas Galdames has a similar profile and could be on his way to Ibrox, but he has already tasted international selection.
Bassey was almost unique.
Speaking shortly after securing Bassey’s arrival from Leicester City, Steven Gerrard couldn’t hide his excitement of the then 20-year old’s prospects:
“Calvin is going to surprise a few people.
“Not many people know the name but we have tracked him for some time.
“We’ve watched him a lot and he’s a fantastic talent.
“He’s big, strong, quick and aggressive. He’s excellent in one v one situations.
“Calvin can play in two or three different positions and always has a smile on his face.
“He is your modern-day, powerful full-back. I’m looking forward to seeing how people take to him.
“I think when they’ve watched him quite a bit, they’ll be as excited as I am.”
Patience is needed with young signings as Bassey proves
Four years on and he is a mainstay in Nigeria’s international team and a dominant Premier League centre-half.
He chose Nigeria early in his career, however, both England and Italy have missed a trick when you see how far he has progressed.
England are crying out for left-footed defenders and left-backs, and Bassey walks into Gareth Southgate’s squad now.
The Premier League 2 and the fringes of other top five leagues will be littered with players like Bassey, however, as Gerrard says, there is one important quality that they need to make the step up.
Mentality.
Bassey was almost written off at Rangers.
His positioning was poor, he would ball watch and he had a bad habit of not being able to sort his footwork out when he had to react to counter attacks.
Bassey struggled initially with the intensity of senior football, and it wasn’t until his second season that his ability to switch between left-back and centre-half during games made him a key component of Rangers run to the Europa League final where he was man of the match.
The reason he became so important was his mentality.
He worked hard on things like his crossing with Borna Barisic, and played to his natural strengths rather than trying to be something he wasn’t like Filip Helander or Leon Balogun.
By sheer hard work alone, he went from being a promising player with an enormous physical advantage to one where he didn’t need to rely on his athleticism to bail him out of trouble.
The result was a near £20m profit and club record sale.
Will Nils Koppen unearth the next £20m sale this summer?
