Calvin Bassey

Who is Calvin Bassey?

Calvin Bassey is an Italian-born English defender of Nigerian descent who plays as a defender for Scottish Premiership side Rangers.

He joined Leicester City at the age of fifteen after a productive trial and progressed through the Foxes’ youth ranks, with regular appearances for their U18 and U23 sides.

The star was part of a Leicester youth side who ran riot in a development match at Ibrox in September 2017, thrashing a young Gers team 6-1.

In 2020, Bassey signed a pre-contract with the Scottish club, despite interest from the likes of West Ham United and Bayer Leverkusen, with him due to officially join Rangers with the opening of the summer transfer market in July.

He made his professional debut for the Ibrox outfit in a Scottish Premiership match versus St Mirren as a substitute in a 3–0 win.

Born in Italy, he is eligible to play for Italy, England or Nigeria at the international level.

Where does Calvin Bassey play?

Primarily a left-back, Calvin has also featured at left centre-half for the Leicester U23 side after an injury to ex-Celtic star Filip Benkovic.

He has played centrally both as part of a back three and a back four.

Studying him in action for the Under-23s, it seems common that he’d often be asked to play both roles in a single game, sometimes changing back and forth between the two.

What kind of player is Calvin Bassey?

He is a strong and physically imposing defender who looks calm attacking aerial balls.

An often-encountered problem with youngsters moving from development football in England to the rough and tumble of the Scottish Professional Football League is difficulty dealing with the physical challenge.

But Calvin looks well-equipped to deal with it. Not only the star is physically strong, but there’s also aggression about his play that should bode well.

There is also a desire to get forward when played on the wing and occasional flashes of tidy foot-work in the attack.

Bassey isn’t blessed with lightning pace. While he has played as a central defender, he hasn’t always looked comfortable there.

But, he appears relaxed picking passes from deep, with multiple examples of the defender finding team-mates from bad positions instead of simply clearing his lines.