Aston Villa tipped to fend off transfer competition to finalise Steven Gerrard reunion

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard is reportedly keen to win the Premier League battle to land Rangers defender Calvin Bassey.

Gerrard signed the left-back from Leicester City in 2020 whilst he was in charge of the Scottish club and the Nigerian international has made 64 appearances across since, playing a pivotal role in the Gers' Europa League journey this season - they finished as runners-up to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Rangers face Hearts in the Scottish Cup final today (Saturday, 3pm) and the Villa Park outfit will send representation to Hampden to watch the 22-year-old in action before this summer's business gets started. According to the Daily Record, Gerrard wants to strengthen the left side of his defence with Ashley Young 's contract expiring this summer and Matt Targett 's future unclear yet after impressing on loan at Newcastle United. Lucas Digne has been Gerrard's first-choice left-back since his January move from Everton.

The former Ibrox boss is apparently aware of the stiff competition for the defender's signature, with five Premier League rivals and two Serie A clubs interested in luring Bassey away from Scotland. Newly-promoted Fulham are keen with Wolves and Brentford also said to have the left-back on his radar.

The report from Scotland claims that only a club record deal would be enough to see Bassey leave the club after Nathan Paterson's January move to Everton. Bassey's Ibrox contract expires in two years (2024).

Ahead of Sunday's final game of the season at Manchester City, Gerrard has already made his intentions clear this summer about the work required on his squad. Despite a positive instant impact at Villa when he first arrived in November, Gerrard has faced various struggles and they sit 14th in