Giovanni van Bronckhorst says 'Calvin Bassey is moving on'

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is resigned to losing Calvin Bassey.

Ajax and Brighton are among the clubs understood to be interested in the versatile defender and reports on Saturday night claimed the Dutch club were set to finalise a transfer.

The 22-year-old was absent as Rangers beat Blackpool 2-1 in a friendly at Bloomfield Road.

“It was better for all to keep him behind,” Van Bronckhorst told Sky Sports.

“We are in talks with clubs who are interested so it looks like Calvin is moving on.

“Of course I want to keep Calvin. He had incredible development in the last six months, coming from the bench into the team and never left the team. I was really happy with his performances.

“But when you have players who are playing very well in the league but also in Europe, the attention will be there.

“Everything we do has to be in the best interests of the club.”

Goals from Borna Barisic and Northern Ireland Under-21 midfielder Charlie McCann earned Rangers victory.

Van Bronckhorst told RangersTV: “We have given players a lot of minutes heading into the last week when we still have West Ham and Tottenham, so it is looking good.

“It is a very big week, you see the fitness levels are going up and it was good to see John Souttar, Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence, so I am really happy that everyone featured in today’s game.”