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By Anthony Nlebem.
Former Ajax star Sonny Silooy is happy to see Nigerian Calvin Bassey back in the starting line-up for Ajax after a shaky start.
The defender returned to Ajax’s starting line-up in the central defensive role under manager Johnny Heitinga as the Dutch champions earned a 1-0 win over NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch Eredivisie at the Johan Cruijff Arena on Sunday.
The 23-year-old was impressive in the encounter and played full-time to help his team maintain a clean sheet and won Man of The Match for his brilliant performance.
The former Glasgow Rangers star, who joined Ajax last summer for a fee of £19m, forged a strong partnership with Netherlands international Jurrien Timber after the spent time at left–back earlier in the season.
Silooy is confident the Super Eagles defender can excel in central defence and can become the best defender in Europe
“Bassey has found his place at Ajax. He now knows what has probably been made clear to him, that he has to take a ball and play it. He can become one of the best defenders in the Netherlands. Let’s start with that, maybe from Europe,” Silooy told De Telegraaf as quoted by Daily Star.
“He is of course much better centrally than on the left, where he also played when Ajax was not in the best period. He just needs to learn to look ahead sooner when danger threatens.
“He has really been on a roll in recent weeks. At one point he ended up on the back line of NEC and that is possible again because the remaining defence is now much better organised at Ajax.”
Meanwhile, journalist Pieter Zwart believes Bassey will be the ideal player for Everton.
According to Zwart, the Toffees might be better suited for him.
“Ajax need a defender like him. He has speed and can easily defend with spaces at his back,” he wrote in Voetbal International, relayed by MSN.
“He can also win individual duels in big spaces. They have always had players like that too in the person of Davinson Sánchez, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martínez.
“(But) they have a problem there now, because Calvin Bassey also has some shortcomings that are awkward in the Ajax game. You mainly talk about his build-up qualities, but I am not convinced by his defending in his own sixteen either.
“In defending, he also has unfortunate moments. For someone who is quite tall, he can also head pretty badly. Dutch defenders are trained with being comfortable on the ball. Those qualities are in huge demand in Europe.
“The conclusion of the top European clubs seems to be: that building up is difficult to learn later, so we bring someone in and defending can still be learned later in life. You don’t see the reverse stroke being made as often.
“I keep my doubts. I think he is never really going to be a grandiose success, but Ajax will make money from him. For the style of play of a club like Everton, he is a perfect defender. He also counts as England-trained, so you’re going to grab money for him as Ajax.”
The Nigeria international has made 21 league appearances and scored one goal and three assists to his name this season.