Michael Beale has warned Rangers the time might be ripe to cash in on Calvin Bassey. The Ibrox defender enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last year as Gio van Bronckhorst’s team reached the Europa League final before lifting the Scottish Cup.
His powerhouse performances have now led to Gers slapping a £25million price tag on the head of a player recruited from Leicester's academy for just £200,000 two years ago. Former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard is rumoured to be weighing up a move, with a number of Premier League and Bundesliga outfits also monitoring the situation.
But with two years remaining on the Nigeria international’s deal, Gerrard’s former Ibrox No.2 Beale has warned Rangers they might not get a better chance to realise Bassey’s true worth if they opt to hang on the 22-year-old beyond this summer. It’s a scenario the club is already facing with key assets Alfredo Morelos, Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent now all into the final 12 months of their current agreements and their valuations on the wane.
Gers are believed to be confident they can still attract top dollar for Aribo after it emerged Crystal Palace, Fulham and Nottingham Forest have all expressed an interest. But Beale admits his old club is unlikely to be able to command the same kind of cash they might have received had they opted to sell the former Charlton ace last year.
The new QPR boss said: “I think the key thing for Ross Wilson and the staff there is to have the conveyor belt in place. I think the cross-border thing really helped in terms of taking a player like [Calvin Bassey] for just over £200,000. The same with Joe Aribo.
“Having the conveyor belt in place is really important. That conveyor belt can come through your own academy, like a Nathan Patterson, or it can come from outside. But it’s important when players come and they reach a selling point… With the TV money, it’s the same in the Championship as it is for Glasgow Rangers. You have to sell at the right time.
“If the money being bandied about for Calvin is actually a reality then what a return on your investment that is. On a selfish side I’d like to see him continue because I know he’s having a lovely time.”
Record Sport understands Bassey is in no rush to leave having formed close bonds with his Ibrox team-mates and a close working relationship with boss van Bronckhorst. And Beale believes it’s the tight-knit spirit in the Ibrox dressing room that has allowed Gers to hang on to their key players for so long.
He said: “I think you make an environment in a football club that players love to come into and work. That changing room at Rangers has really come together over the last few years.
“Both from disappointments and success, but also the racism case involving Glen Kamara. It really brought people together going through that. And going through the Covid time, when we really supported each other.
“I think it’s a really hard place to leave, albeit that to be sustainable – exactly the same as we are at QPR – you have to develop players on. If those players then have people coming after them, it means the team must have done well because the team is the vehicle.”
