Rangers make contact to sign “highly-rated” star who could be Bassey 2.0
Glasgow Rangers returned to winning ways over the weekend, yet the Premiership title is surely out of reach for Philippe Clement’s men.
The 3-1 win at Ibrox against St Johnstone may have secured three points, but with the Union Bears walking out after 55 minutes, protesting against the board, the atmosphere at the club is bordering on toxic.
Clement-Rangers
The new CEO, Patrick Stewart, is backing Clement, who will be in charge of the club throughout the transfer window.
With one or two signings likely, who is the Belgian looking to bring to the club?
Rangers eye move for Championship defender
According to Swedish outlet Expressen, Rangers are one of the many clubs that have expressed interest in Burnley defender Hjalmar Ekdal, with a loan move being touted.
Plenty of Championship and Italian clubs are keen on luring the player away from Burnley, suggesting the Light Blues face stiff competition for his signature.
hjalmar-ekdal-burnley
The report goes on to state that Clement and Co have made contact with Burnley over a potential loan deal, which would certainly help ease the club’s current defensive crisis.
It wouldn’t be the first time that the club have signed a defender from England in recent years. If a move for Ekdal could be as impressive as the one which saw Calvin Bassey move north of the border, then Clement may just strike gold.
Why Rangers could sign Calvin Bassey 2.0 in Hjalmar Ekdal
Bassey arrived in the summer of 2020 to little fanfare. Considered an excellent talent, the Nigerian operated on the periphery during the 2020/21 season, making just 15 appearances.
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Due to an injury crisis in defence, Bassey established himself as first choice centre-back the following campaign, playing 50 times for the Gers, reaching the Europa League final and winning the Scottish Cup in the process.
Calvin Bassey’s stats during 2021/22
Metric (per 90)
Europa League
Premiership
Accurate passes
37.4
52.3
Key passes
0.2
0.8
Tackles
1.6
1.5
Ground duels won
3.4
3.4
Possession lost
11.6
14.7
Via Sofascore
It was a stunning rise, which led to him joining Ajax for around £23m, a club-record sale. While Ekdal may be joining on loan initially, he could have the same impact, arriving from south of the border and starring.
Calvin-Bassey
The defender has played just 19 games for Burnley since joining two years ago, but a spell at his previous club Djurgarden was a success.
Indeed, during his final season in the Swedish top flight with the club, Ekdal not only showed his attacking qualities by scoring three goals, but the 26-year-old also averaged an 88% pass success rate, won 61% of his total dues per game and averaged 1.2 tackles each match, showcasing his defensive abilities.
Vincent Kompany once described the Swede as an “intelligent” and “mobile” defender, and it is evident that his skill set could be well suited to the rigours of Scottish football.
The main thing would be getting the defender back to 100% fitness. If Clement can ensure that Ekdal will feature heavily between now and the end of the season, then it is surely a no-brainer to sign him on loan.
Bassey made such a positive impact in a short space of time. The Burnley star may well follow in his footsteps.
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