As Scotland international Aaron Hickey closes in on a £19m move to Brentford, watching Rangers fans will be urging their club to stick to their guns with Calvin Bassey.
Bologna full-back Hickey, 20, is reportedly set to undergo a medical at Griffin Park and secure a megabucks Premier League move this week [Guardian].
This comes after the kid impressed in Serie A following a move to Italy from Hearts in 2020, amid links to Rangers whilst the club was under the management of Steven Gerrard.
This includes last season in particular, where Aaron Hickey netted five goals and laid on an assist in an impressive return with Brentford winning the chase for the player amid much interest elsewhere in England.
But the Rangers support have a talented and versatile left-back asset of their own in Calvin Bassey and will point to the megabucks nature of this transfer as evidence their man of the moment cannot be allowed to leave under market value.
Brentford Hickey deal proves Rangers must demand Bassey millions
Not only is Bassey also a fully-fledged international, with Calvin looking more assured with Nigeria during the recent international break, but the full-back-turned-centre-half is also English trained.
This means he spent three years training at an English club before his 21st birthday, meaning he would fulfill one of the eight homegrown players required in European squads at English clubs.
This immediately makes him more valuable and is a big reason why so many English-trained talents go for super inflated prices down south. See £45m Kalvin Phillips.
Some will point to Aaron Hickey having played in Italy but this can be easily combated in the context of Calvin Bassey by pointing to the ex-Leicester City kid’s performances in Europe.
Bassey was Man of the Match in the Europa League Final, something which topped off a string of impressive performances on that stage last season.
The start of the transfer window was dominated by talk surrounding the defender, with some even suggesting Bassey is worth north of £25m.
Whilst those links to the Premier League appear to have dried up for now Rangers fans will have one eye on the Aaron Hickey deal when it comes to their own valuable left-back.
Calvin Bassey cannot be allowed to leave for under his market value and any watching Premier League clubs can expect to stump up if the deal for Aaron Hickey is anything to go by.
Meanwhile, one Rangers-linked striker is reportedly set to sign a deal elsewhere.