Coventry City talent Norman Bassette has been linked with a return to Belgium, with reports saying Anderlecht are keen on the 20-year-old.
A report on website Anderlecht-online claimed the Belgian Pro League outfit have put the 20-year-old ‘on the list of potential transfer targets’, while rivals Standard have ‘expressed an interest’.
However, they reckon the former Caen player wants to remain at the CBS Arena to prove himself to Frank Lampard.
And, it seems, with just 11 Championship starts and one goal last season, there is plenty of proving to be done. Speaking towards the end of a first season in Sky Blue that brough two goals in 29 games, Lampard made no secret of what he wants from the striker.
In April Lampard told CoventryLive : “He’s got talent and attributes and I think he got into the team in my early days here and gave it some really positive things. But for his game, he needs a lot of work and also to understand the demands of being a player. And when you’re not playing, how you train and keep improving.
“As a young player that’s absolutely of huge importance and I’ve got a very good understanding of that. So for Norman, he needs to keep working and he has to understand he’s got good competition in the area of the team that he’s in. And in this level it’s quite ruthless.
“You need to do all the work, you need to work through the week, you need to do all the work come game day and at the top end of the pitch you need to be clinical and score. That goes for every striker in the world, you know, and more when the prize and the demands are so high.
“So good competition is good when everybody’s training to show me that they need to be in the team. That’s not just for Norman, that goes for everybody. And when you’re a young player there will be moments when you have to really understand that and keep working, keep improving and then get your opportunity.
“But Norman’s a big talent for us and I enjoy working with him. He’s very receptive to work on a training pitch. He just has to understand with a squad sometimes that he absolutely needs to keep that absolute top for him on the training pitch to then get himself minutes in the game.
“Character and spark is good, if controlled well. And Norman, for me, does control it well.
“So all those things are positives for him in his character. So yeah, Norman came here, as you say, before me as a project. And I think we can be really pleased and Norman should be pleased with his impact this season. He’ll want more and I like that too. So, as I say, he just has to keep working.”
Bassette is up against the likes of Haji Wright, Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante for regular game-time in Lampard’s team.
