WITH Calvin Bassey the notable omission from Rangers' matchday squad that defeated Blackpool, Giovanni van Bronckhorst addressed the defender's imminent move to Ajax.

Here is everything the Rangers boss had to say at Bloomfield Road.

Does it look as if Calvin is on his way?

We heard about the interest in Calvin this week from different clubs. You know that if you have players who perform well the interest will come. It went to a level where the club thinks the deal might be happening, so that’s why I spoke to Calvin yesterday and decided to leave him home. We just wait to see what will happen in the coming days to see what will happen but obviously, when he isn’t here we are not taking the risk.

Do you expect him to play again?

The chances he will leave are very, very high. I don’t think I will have him for this week’s friendlies or the start of the season so that’s why we left him home.

Is it between two clubs Ajax or Brighton where he's likely to go?

There are several clubs. I spoke with Ross and he’s dealing with all the interest. I am concentrated on preparing the team for the last week of friendly games. The most important thing is that the club is doing everything in their best interest, and that means we might sell.

Rangers Review:

How important is the transfer financially to Rangers?

We have only positives to take. I really enjoyed working with Calvin for the last six months. His development was incredible how he developed into a central defender – and sometimes as a left-back. A player like him came from the second team and developed into a top-class defender and that’s what you want at your club. I’m very proud to be part of that, so he will move on to the next level and develop even more. Of course, the club will make money financially too.

Are there guarantees as to how much you can reinvest?

No, I don’t know the figure. We’ve done really well so far in getting new players in the positions where positions left so I’m really happy with that. We might lose Calvin so we have to move on and be ready for possible players coming in.

How many more signings are there likely to be?

If Calvin is going, he was a left-back and a left-central defender, so we will look at the qualities of the player and the dynamic to see if we move for one player or two. Calvin Bassey recruitment structure and how that is moving forward. You always have to be ready because you just never know when you are going to lose players. You have to have your list ready for possible players coming in. I think we are well prepared for anything that can happen. We knew about the interest in Calvin because he played really well but sometimes you expect it might be another year away. For Calvin, it’s a nice move and for the club as well business-wise it’s what you want to do.

What are your thoughts on the game?

We played really well, it felt like we played at home with the amazing support we had here. It gives you so much extra energy and today we played with a much better pace than we did in Portugal, we looked much fitter.