As with Joe Aribo, if Calvin Bassey does complete a move away from Rangers this summer it presents Ross Wilson with more than one problem.
The Nigerian internationals share more than a few traits and ones that are a manager’s dream; they are incredible physical specimens, standing over 6ft tall and athletic with it, can play a variety of roles to a high standard and are never injured or suspended.
In both cases it looks as though we are looking at specialists for certain roles rather than trying to replace the individuals who have left/are leaving.
Bassey, for example, was probably pencilled in to repeat his exploits of last season and rotate between left-back and left-sided centre-back which now presents a problem – we need to find both.
In terms of left back, we have already seen a couple of very exciting prospects mentioned, Josh Tymon at Stoke City and Doron Leidner of Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Tymon would be the more expensive of the two, however, Leidner is one of the highest rated prospects outside of the top five leagues and would probably be highly sought after, that he was considered by Bologna as Aaron Hickey’s replacement says it all.
My personal preference, if the price is right, would by Tymon. Like Bassey and James Tavernier on the other side, he has an incredible engine and is known for his aggressive attacking style, being able to go box-to-box is hugely important as a Rangers full-back, being able to do it twice a week over a 60 game season is also a factor.
The 23-year old would cost around the £6million mark but if Bassey goes for £25m then there is money to invest and we have yet to dip into the money that we made last season and from the sales of Nathan Patterson and Joe Aribo. Hopefully, if we do sell Basse,y that a replacement comes in straight away, losing such a key player is a blow, losing one who can play two positions is an even harder one to deal with.