Calvin Bassey opens up about being a target for criticism during his stint at Dutch football powerhouse Ajax Amsterdam.

Under the tutelage of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Bassey transformed into one of Europe’s top young defenders at Glasgow Rangers, earning a £20m move to Ajax.

Despite his impressive development, the versatile defender faced challenges upon joining Ajax — A domestic debut marked by a red card in a 5-3 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the pre-season Community Shield led to a suspension for the initial Eredivisie games.

Ajax Champions League group stage exit, and a dip in form coincided with league struggles saw former Ajax players, including Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart, raised doubts about Bassey if is a right fit for club.

“I had become a £20million-plus player so I felt like I was trying to prove a point, but to who? At the start, we were flying, but we almost started too well,” Bassey told Athletic.

“I didn’t have the chance to fail a bit, then get better. I had come for a lot of money and wasn’t the finished product so it was easy to pick on me. I wasn’t Dutch and came from a league not as good technically.

“I was the one to get picked on and they didn’t give me the time to adapt, which even Edwin van der Sar (then sporting director) said.”

“It was so different. Rarely do you get a center-back running into the No 6 position in the Premier League, it’s just not done. Because Ajax always had the ball, you don’t get punished as much. It is not easy to adjust to.”

The Nigerian international admits, the constant criticisms made leave the club for Fulham.

“I moved to Fulham at the right time. I can build under a manager (Marco Silva) who wants to play football,” He said.

Fulham paid Ajax £16m for his services and it appears to be a good bargain for the Cottagers.

Calvin Bassey has made 13 appearance for the club in the Premier League.