Ex-Ajax ace insists Bassey is similar to Davinson Sanchez and will never be a Frank de Boer
Published: January 27, 2023Former Ajax Amsterdam winger Kenneth Perez has suggested that Calvin Bassey was being misused by dismissed coach Alfred Schreuder and reckons that the Nigeria international is best suited to playing as a center-back and not as a left-back.
Schreuder was sacked as Ajax boss on Thursday following a poor run of results and the straw that broke the camel's back was the 1-1 draw with Volendam,
Very often this season, Bassey has been the fall guy when things don't go as planned at Ajax and he was once again criticized for his performance against Volendam.
Many pundits have underlined that Bassey does not have the attributes of a ball-playing defender.
In quotes relayed by Voetbal International, Perez said : "He will never be a Frank de Boer, but maybe a Davinson Sánchez. But then you have to put him in the center.
"He has power, he has speed. Alone on the ball... That's just awful. Really miserable. And of course that doesn't get better, because he will also get this, that he is a bit of a joke. I think you have something to do with him centrally."
The Leicester City academy product became the most expensive Nigerian defender in history following his transfer to Ajax last summer for an initial fee of 23 million euros and the total transfer fees could rise to 26.5 million euros if performance-related variables are included.
"26 million is a lot of money, but he can't help it that he cost so much. That there was a management who thought: you know what, we think it would be a good idea to pay that amount for him," Perez concluded.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : ajax.nl
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