Aston Villa have three left-backs on the books with Lucas Digne, Ashley Young and Matt Targett, but Young plays in a supporting role these days while Targett is surplus to requirements under Steven Gerrard, so the Midlands outfit are on the hunt for potential replacements.
One player high on their list is Calvin Bassey. The 22-year-old has made 65 appearances in all competitions since joining Rangers on a four-year deal from Leicester City in 2020, scoring one goal with six assists. Bassey is highly-rated at Ibrox and has caught the eye of a number of clubs, so it’s easy to see why Gerrard wants him.
Villa might have an edge in negotiations too as their 41-year-old manager was at Rangers until mid-November. Alan Hutton, a former Rangers and Villa fullback, believes Bassey would be a great acquisition and compared him to Celtic’s Kieran Tierney who joined Arsenal at the age of 22 in 2019.
He told Football Insider: “People bring up Kieran Tierney and what he went for. Calvin Bassey is more than capable of doing exactly the same thing. He ticks all the same boxes that Tierney does. He’s powerful, he can get forward and put balls into the box, he’s very strong one-v-one defending and can play multiple positions.”
Villa may have to pay £25m to procure his signature, replicating Tierney’s transfer fee, but Bassey could be worth the outlay given his potential. The Nigerian international can play at left-back and centre-back too, so his versatility would save Gerrard signing another defender.
In other news, Ben Mee could be a good signing for Aston Villa
