Rangers transfers: Calvin Bassey sale timeline set out, the cost of signing Malik Tillman, winger out on loan again

Rangers could lose in-demand defender Calvin Bassey next week as Ajax and Brighton and Hove Albion firm up their interest in the Nigerian internationalist.
Calvin Bassey is wanted by both Ajax and Brighton and Hove Albion.Calvin Bassey is wanted by both Ajax and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Calvin Bassey is wanted by both Ajax and Brighton and Hove Albion.

Bassey, 22, has become one of the hottest prospects in the Scottish game after his breakthrough 2021/22 season, where he performed impressively for Rangers at centre-back and left-back. He won the man-of-the-match award in the Europa League final defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt and has become a regular at international level.

Despite having two years left on his contract at Ibrox, Rangers are becoming increasingly resigned to selling Bassey in this transfer window. Both Ajax and Brighton have proposed bids, the biggest believed to be £19million plus add-ons, and while those figures do not match the Rangers board’s valuation of more than £20million, further offers are anticipated. The Dutch Eredivisie side are reported to be prepared to pay more than the English Premier League outfit, as they are about to sell their Argentinian defender Lisandro Martinez to Manchester United for £45m.

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Developments are expected in the next few days and a fresh submission could be accepted next week – with the potential for the sale to break the Scottish transfer record, currently held by Kieran Tierney when he moved from Celtic to Arsenal for £25m.

Kai Kennedy has gone out on loan once again.Kai Kennedy has gone out on loan once again.
Kai Kennedy has gone out on loan once again.

Rangers have already sold midfielder Joe Aribo to Southampton for a deal that could reach up to £10m. They have brought in Bayern Munich’s US internationalist Malik Tillman on loan for the 2022/23 campaign and have an option to buy. The fee for that has been undisclosed but the German Bundesliga outfit will not sell him on the cheap.

Meanwhile, Rangers winger Kai Kennedy has been reunited with manager John McGlynn once again after joining League One outfit Falkirk on loan for upcoming season.

Kennedy played under McGlynn for Raith Rovers two seasons ago and while he signed a fresh deal with the Ibrox outfit in January 2021, he has been unable to break in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first-team plans. He has had loans deals at Rovers, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hamilton Accies and Dunfermline Athletic and will once again spend a season away from Ibrox.

Rangers are in action on Saturday against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, before they take on West Ham on Tuesday and Tottenham Hotspur five days later, both at Ibrox.