Van der Gijp questions Ajax's scouting of Calvin Bassey

Damola Ogungbe 21:07 - 14.10.2022

Dutch legend Renee van der Gijp has questioned the scouting process that led to the permanent signing of Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey by Ajax Amsterdam.

The Dutch giants splashed €23m on the signing of the 22-year-old centre-back this summer transfer window, bringing in the Nigerian international as a replacement for Lisandro Martinez who departed for Manchester United.

Bassey has had a mixed start to life at Ajax, keeping five consecutive clean sheets in his first five matches for the Dutch giants before conceding 17 goals in the following six matches.

Many have criticised the Super Eagles international for his role in the matches as Ajax have won only one match of their last six, all of which Bassey has featured.

The latest to criticise the Nigeria international is former PSV Eindhoven player Van der Gijp who believes that Ajax overpaid to sign Bassey from Rangers. 

The 61-year-old retired footballer turned sports pundit suggested that the Dutch champions got a better deal when they signed 19-year-old defender Francisco Conceicao from FC Porto for just €5m.

Van der Gijp told voetbalprimeur as reported by Daily Record: “If you spend €24m for Bassey, you must have seen him all year, right? €24m, how high do you set the bar? They spend € 5m for Francisco Conceição, fine, but €24m for Bassey. No.”

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Bassey and Ajax will hope to get back to winning ways when they welcome Excelsior to the Johan Cruyff Arena on Sunday, October 16 for their Matchday 10 fixture in the Dutch Eredivisie.

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