Former teammate: Calvin Bassey will thrive at Rangers – Leicester news

Calvin Bassey’s move to Rangers from Leicester City was confirmed Saturday. His former Foxes academy team-mate believes the Scottish club bought a gem.

Scottish giants Rangers secured Leicester City academy graduate Calvin Bassey’s signature on a four-year contract over the weekend. Bassey was a constant figure in the Leicester City Under-23 and U18 squads during his time in England, but will now play under Steven Gerrard in Scotland.

Ex-Leicester City academy team-mate’s opinion

Former Foxes academy player Ethan Hodby, who played with Bassey at academy level, has claimed Rangers have secured a future star:

"“They’ve got a gem on their hands in Calvin,” he said. “I think if he had stayed at Leicester, he had the ability to break into the first-team.“But for him, you have to move to Rangers because they are a massive club. The prospect of playing first-team football is vital and he has more of a chance doing this in Scotland than in England.“He is very athletic, skilful and naturally fit. He contains amazing technical ability, the sort you don’t really see from young full-backs.”"

Hodby believes playing under Gerrard, with the former-England international sharing his experience, Bassey will thrive at Rangers due to his athleticism. The Italian-born player is capable of playing as a left-back and centre-back, something the Gers are likely to utilise.

"“I personally believe he will break into their first-team within a year. He will be with Borna Barisic, who is 27-years-old, so he will learn massively from him, from all his experiences.“Ibrox is a big stadium: Calvin will thrive playing in front of the thousands that go and watch. Working under Gerrard as well, he’s an England legend. He is going to benefit from working under Gerrard more than playing in the U23s at Leicester, without a doubt”, according to Hodby."

But what kind of player are Leicester City losing?

According to the Rangers website, there was a number of clubs interested in Bassey and the Rangers manager believes the defender “is certainly equipped to thrive in the combative nature of Scottish football.”

Hodby, who now plays in Cyprus, praised Bassey’s style of play and compared him to a tall Ashley Cole.

"“His ability to venture forward and trackback to make well-timed challenges is everything you want of your left-back.“You don’t get many tall full-backs anymore. Bassey is one of the lucky ones.“On a personal level, he’s a good lad. He has the same mindset of the young lads who have managed to break into the first-team (Hamza Choudhury, Harvey Barnes and Ben Chilwell).”"

Only time will tell if the Ibrox side have got themselves a quality bargain from the English outfit.