Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 5:15 PM• Jonathan van Haaster • Last update: 17:19

After a period as a reserve player, Calvin Bassey has fought his way back into Ajax’s starting eleven in recent weeks. After the appointment of trainer John Heitinga, the Anglo-Nigerian defender lost his starting place, but he appears again at the kick-off in recent matches. Bassey gives in conversation with the NOS to have fought for his starting place and also promises that when he leaves Amsterdam, he will be of a high technical level.

Bassey was taken over from Rangers for a maximum of 26.5 million euros last summer. Under trainer Alfred Schreuder he always started in the base, but after the dismissal of the coach, Bassey initially had to make do with a role as a substitute under Heitinga. “Being next to the team didn’t feel good”, Bassey looks back. “Of course I was frustrated at first. But I just had to focus on the question: how do I get back into the team? What do I have to do so that the trainer says: ‘We need Calvin in the base?'”

“I have always been doubted,” continues the center defender annex left back. “But to me, that’s my fuel. When things don’t go right, I’m a fighter.” The 23-year-old left leg was rejected by quite a few clubs in his youth, until he was offered a contract with Leicester City at the age of fifteen. “I think it says something about my resistance and my way of thinking. Apart from the physical, the tactical and the technical aspect, my greatest asset is my mindset, my mentality. My determination to win and to get better.”

Bassey says he doesn’t know when his dreams will be fully fulfilled. “I am never satisfied. At Ajax everyone has an exceptionally high technical level. I bring physical strength and I know what I can do better.” In addition to his physical strength, the man-dekker is also praised for his speed, with which he has given Ajax more stability in the back. There is still room for improvement on a technical level, he says. “But I promise you, if I leave here, I’ll be one of them. I have to. I don’t set limits and work at it every day.” So far, Bassey has played 34 times for Ajax. He was good for a hit and five assists.