Rangers may have landed themselves a star in the making after Leicester City’s Calvin Bassey put pen to paper on a long term deal to join Steven Gerrard’s side.
Speaking to Football Insider, former Gers right-back, Alan Hutton, reckons that the 20-yeard old could make a similar impact to the one that Jeremie Frimpong has made across the city since his move from Manchester City.
So what has Hutton said?
When asked about Rangers taking advantage of cross border regulations that allow Scottish clubs to pick up young English talent for a fraction of their value, he said:
“I think we’re seeing it more often now, the young boys taking their step out their comfort zone to get first-team football. I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s looking for and he’ll be giving his all for that.
“Frimpong is a great example, one who came up, we didn’t really think he was going to be in the first-team this season but pushed on, kicked on and deserved his place. He’s an absolute diamond of a player so I’m hoping Rangers have got something similar.
“I think one of the main things for him is the better chance of playing first-team football, even though he’s arguably got one of Rangers’ best players playing in front of him. I think there’s other positions he can play, he looks like can do all those sort of positions.
“He looks versatile and at 20-years-old he’s going to learn all these different positions which is only going to be good.”
So is Hutton correct?
Absolutely, the evidence has already been seen at Rangers with Joe Aribo who – for £300,000 – has shown flashes of what he is capable of in his debut season, it didn’t quite work out for Jordan Rossiter but that was nothing to do with a shortage of talent, just his body letting him down.
It may be seen as a gamble signing young players and throwing them into the cauldron that is life at an Old Firm club but, when you are paying such a small transfer fee, it is worth taking the risk.
Frimpong has shown that young players – if they are given the chance – can make an impact sooner than expect and Gerrard will be hoping that Bassey can show what he is capable of for the Light Blues when the season eventually kicks off.
Celtic benefitted hugely by signing Moussa Dembele from Fulham a few years ago and Rangers fans would love to make a similar acquisition with similar results, although any admission would be through severely gritted teeth.