Alex McLeish: Calvin Bassey can fetch transfer fee similar to Kieran Tierney's

Alex McLeish believes Rangers could receive a fee in the region of £25m if they were to cash in on Calvin Bassey this summer.

The young defender had a breakthrough season as he established himself in the first team at Ibrox and played a major role as the team reached the Europa League final and won the Scottish Cup.

Performances against some of Europe’s top sides have caught the eye of many and could lead to bids being made to tempt Rangers into selling this summer.

The 22-year-old Nigeria international has two years left on his contract and that means Rangers would hold a strong hand in any negotiations.

Asked if that meant the in-form defender could command a fee similar to the Scottish record £25m that Celtic received from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney, former Rangers boss McLeish said he believed that was the case.

“I would say yes,” he said. “In the beginning when I saw Bassey I wasn’t sure if he was a left full-back, wing-back, centre-back and he’s been versatile enough to play in all three positions.

“I really enjoyed his cup final performance and that’s made me see why there’s so much attention being paid to him at the moment.”

Though holding on to to players will be crucial for Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst as he prepares for his first full season in charge, McLeish says that transfer income could help fund a revamp of the squad.

“If you can hold on to [important players] then that would be great but sometimes the offers are so big, especially from the English Premier League, that it would be difficult to resist,” he said.

“It would give them the chance again to maybe get the new manager’s choice of player. But I’m sure the board would back him as they backed Stevie Gerrard.”

McLeish, who won seven trophies during his time at Ibrox, says it’s inevitable that a manager would want to put his own stamp on the squad.

“If you look at Gio coming in and Stevie Gerrard’s choices of players – he got them going right to the end, and it was an incredible run they had,” he said.

“I’m sure he’s got a black book of players he would want to bring in and of course the recruitment guys at Ibrox will be pitching in.

“But I think first and foremost every manager wants to put his own touch to it, and I think we’ll maybe see that in the not-too-distant future from Gio.”