Coventry City player told "he thinks he's Ibrahimovic" & warned bridges could be burnt with Frank Lampard | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry fan pundit has given his verdict on Norman Bassette's future at the club

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Norman Bassette opened up on his Coventry City loan exit earlier this month by claiming it was Frank Lampard that pushed for the move.

It was reported that the forward said that the Sky Blues wanted to keep him, but that the manager made the decision to agree to a loan deal with Reims.

The 20-year-old struggled for game time in the Championship last year following his arrival at the CBS Arena in the 2024 summer window.

The forward made 25 appearances for Coventry, including 11 starts, as he contributed two goals.

His lack of consistent game time led to his move to Reims on loan, where he has scored one goal from five appearances in the opening nine games of the Ligue 2 campaign.

Norman Bassette’s burnt bridges at Coventry City

When asked if Bassette has a future with the Sky Blues, FLW’s Coventry fan pundit Chris Deez warned that the forward has a habit of burning bridges in his career that he must get past.

He praised the forward for putting in worthy performances last season, but suggested that it is becoming a recurring problem in his career that he doesn’t have the best relationships with his clubs.

“I have tried so, so hard so many times to give Bassette the benefit of the doubt,” Deez told Football League World.

“He’s a young, naive player who hasn’t had loads of chances, but whenever he has had a chance he hasn’t taken it.

“He had that little spell last season where he played a few games in a row and he looked like he really had something about him, he was that sort of dogged, little ratty player that winds up the opposition and draws them into giving away fouls.

“He just had that passion about him, yappy little annoying dog that you hate to see from your opponents, but you love to see from your own players.

“But, as time has gone on, he’s made this move away on loan to the second division in France, he seems to have the form of burning bridges.

“The more I’ve looked into it, he’s forced a move away from three different clubs now.”

Deez has claimed that Bassette needs to take a look at his attitude as he can’t go around acting like Zlatan Ibrahimovic when he can’t live up to the billing as Coventry’s new Viktor Gyokeres: “He seems to be doing alright now over in France, seems to be doing well for the Belgium U21s, I would’ve loved for him to be a success here.

“He kept saying he could potentially be the next Gyokeres, and to be fair I don’t really know where we got that impression from because he hadn’t exactly set the world on fire before he came to Cov.

“As I said at the start, he’s a very young player, I hope he matures and I hope he matures very quickly because he’s going to have a short career if he keeps burning bridges and speaking out about his former clubs.

“He obviously has a very big opinion of himself, he’s clearly got quite the ego, he thinks he’s a bit of an Ibrahimovic, when the reality is he’s not showing himself to be any more than a Darius Henderson.”

Coventry have made a strong start to the Championship season without Bassette in the side, with the Sky Blues leading the way at the top of the table after nine games.

Lampard’s side have earned 19 points from a possible 27, leaving them three points clear of third place Leicester City.

Coventry City aren’t missing Norman Bassette

It would be great for Coventry if Bassette could put it together and become an important part of Lampard’s plans in the future.

However, it’s clear from their form to start the season that they aren’t missing him much at all at the moment.

The Sky Blues are enjoying a great run of results, and their goal scoring record is the envy of the Championship.