Gerrard scouting Rangers star amid summer interest

Speculation is seriously ramping up over Calvin Bassey to Aston Villa after his ex-manager was reported to be scouting him.

As a standout in the two finals recently, Bassey is in major demand now and Villa appear to be getting to the head of the queue of admirers interested in luring the Nigeria star.

There is a list of suitors, including Munich and Dortmund, and Bassey is definitely vulnerable to a major demand, so reports of Gerrard’s interest are no surprise with the cash-rich Birmingham side looking to launch a serious assault on European places next season.

And Bassey is the calibre they want, with comparisons being drawn with ex-Celtic now-Liverpool superstar Virgil Van Dijk.

In reality, Bassey is considerably ahead of the Holland star in terms of age, and he went, all those years ago, for £12M, so we’d expect at least £20M if not considerably more for a player of this growing reputation.

Does Bassey want to leave?

He’s probably happy to stay, happy to go – he just wants to play football for his club and country, and of course Rangers can attract players with CL next season, even if there’s a bit of a fight to get there first.

Villa can’t offer anything beyond money and the PL – which, let’s be frank, are huge carrots.

Whether Gerrard steps up his interest remains to be seen.