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The former Netherlands goalkeeper has come to the defence of the Super Eagles star following criticisms.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar has defended Super Eagles star Calvin Bassey, following the criticism of his performance at Ajax.
Bassey is in his first year at Ajax after joining the club from Rangers for €23.00m in the summer. The Super Eagles star arrived at the club with a big reputation after excelling for Rangers in the Scottish Premiership and Europe.
The 22-year-old was key to Rangers' run to the Europa League final, including a man of the match display in the showpiece.
Bassey's performance in Europe earned him a spot in the Europa League team of the season. However, he has had an indifferent start to life in the Netherlands, with the Nigerian coming under intense criticism from ex-Dutch stars.
However, Van Der Sar has jumped to the Super Eagles star's defence, comparing him with Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez.
Bassey replaced Martinez at Ajax, but Van der Sar insists the Argentine had a rough start before becoming one of the world's best defenders.
"Calvin also has qualities, but will have to improve to get to that level," Van Der Sar told VL as per football Scotland. That is very logical, and Martínez has also had that development with us.
"Just think about two years ago when Martínez spent a lot of time on the bench. It takes time to grow, it's not fair to judge Bassey directly on the level of Martínez," Van der Sar added.
Bassey still has enough time to shut his critics up as he signed a five-year contract with the Dutch champions.
The Super Eagles star is currently training with the rest of his Ajax teammates who are not participating in the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
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