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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Robbie Copeland

Calvin Bassey stuns world as Rangers star lands prestigious award and earns 'massive' Nigeria verdict

Rangers star Calvin Bassey continues to catch the eye all over the world as COPA90 have named him their breakthrough player of the season.

And that comes after a Nigeria performance that earned him a 9/10 rave review against Ecuador.

Bassey was one of the stars of the show for Rangers last season and put his name in the headlines with a number of stunning displays on their way to the Europa League final.

After starting the season as a bit-part player for Steven Gerrard, he became a force under Gio van Bronckhorst and has been tipped for a £25million move down south with comparisons to Virgil van Dijk capturing the attention in the Premier League.

It was a season littered with individual honours for the 22-year-old who was crowned Rangers' Young Player of the Year and named in the Europa League Team of the Season.

Calvin Bassey and Emmanuel Dennis in action for Nigeria (Getty Images)

And now football media giants COPA90 have named him their Breakthrough Player of the Year.

The UK-based outlet boast more than 10million followers across all platforms and named Bassey alongside the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Dani Alves and Aston Villa keeper Emi Martinez on their annual awards list.

On Bassey they wrote: "Starting the season as a rotation full-back, finishing as first choice centre-back - marshalling the backline during Rangers’ great European run and cup final win. The name on everyone’s lips this summer."

Transfer talk on Bassey has quietened somewhat recently as he is focused on international duty until June 13.

They had a warmup friendly with Ecuador last night ahead of their AFCON qualifiers with Sierra Leone and Mauritius.

The Rangers star started in the left-back slot yet as they fell to a narrow defeat.

But he was named star man by All Nigeria Soccer who rated him 9/10 and branded it an "exceptional" performance from the youngster.

They said: “Another exceptional game by the Rangers young star.

“Was massive, especially in the second half and should have got a couple of assists if not for the profligacy of the strikers. 9/10.”

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