Gio van Bronckhorst vents on Rangers transfer frustration as former boss names the key sale that left him 'not happy'

Former Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst has revealed he was "not happy" that Calvin Bassey was sold during his time as boss.

The Dutchman had made a lasting impact on the club as a player and returned as manager to take over the helm from Steven Gerrard after his departure from Aston Villa. After losing out in the Scottish Premiership title, Van Bronckhorst led the club on a historic run to the Europa League final before rounding off the campaign with a Scottish Cup win over Hearts.

A slump in results going into the World Cup break that saw the Light Blues fall behind Celtic in the title race saw Van Bronckhorst replaced by Michael Beale last term - but the former boss appears to have lingering frustrations over the decision to sell key defender Bassey to Ajax. The defender left Rangers in a £19m deal after his exploits en route to Seville - but after a disappointing campaign in the Eredivise was quickly moved on to Fulham.

Asked about working with Bassey on Dutch station RTL7 the former boss admitted he was disappointed to see the Nigeria international leave - but could understand the call from the board to recoup a bumper transfer fee.Van Bronckhorst said: "He has not had a good year. I went there In November and with me he immediately became an important player because his defensive qualities were great.

"He was fast, strong and won duels. He really played into his strength with me and that made him the player that was sold. I was not happy that he left, but I understood it for the club and I thought it was a good follow-up for him."

Van Bronckhorst also offered a defence of Bassey and his time at Ajax after the 23-year-old received heavy criticism during his time with the Dutch giants. He said: "He is a young