Rangers have banked a club record fee with the sale of Calvin Bassey to Ajax. The Nigeria international has completed a move to the Eredivisie champions for an expected £19.59million plus add-ons.
Ajax have moved quickly to sign the 22-year-old defender to replace the outgoing Lisandro Martinez as he heads for the Premier League. The Argentine is set to sign for Manchester United in a €55m transfer and will now be replaced by the promising Bassey at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Bassey's profile sky-rocketed in the latter half of last season with a series of standout displays in Rangers' run to the Europa League Final. That also attracted interest from Premier League side Brighton but the Netherlands' emerged as his most likely destination following talks with new manager Alfred Schreuder.
Bassey joined Rangers for just £230,000 in summer 2020 and his departure will smash the club's previous record transfer fee. Nathan Patterson left for Everton in January for an £11.5m fee, a sale which has now been eclipsed.
Ibrox boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst had appealed to Bassey that his development, for now, was still best served in Glasgow. However, the versatile star has chosen the Dutch capital as his next destination, which will guarantee him Champions League group stage football next season.
Van Bronckhorst, meanwhile, will hope funds raised from his sale will be reinvested back into his squad. Rangers have already welcomed John Souttar, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Malik Tillman to the club so far this summer.
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