AS Saint-Etienne would have checked the name of the experienced Glasgow Rangers scorer, Cyriel Dessers (30), as offensive reinforcement for the month of January. Presentation of an atypical player.
Has Kilmer Sports finally understood that maintaining ASSE would be difficult this season without a minimum of experience in key positions? After investing massively last summer in Lucas Stassin (€9 million) as an offensive prospect, the North American fund would this time have the idea of bringing back to Forez an attacker qualified on the European scene: Cyriel Dessers ( Glasgow Rangers, 30). In any case, that’s what Le Républicain Sportif says. But who is this Nigerian striker with a full CV?
Executioner of OM, failed by the Girondins
If he has never visited France in his vast career which has seen him travel through Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and now Scotland, the native of Tongeren (Belgium) remains a nightmare for the supporters of OM… and above all a hero on the Feyenoord side which he had led, thanks to his ten goals in 13 matches (and especially his double against the Phocaeans), to the final of the 2022 Europa Conference League. This epic is also the main feat of arms of the Super Eagle (6 caps, 2 goals) who, a year before his fruitful loan to Rotterdam (20 goals and 4 assists in 42 matches), had almost landed… in Girondins de Bordeaux while he was coming out of a very average season at Genk.
Cyriel Dessers spent most of his career in second-rate clubs in the Jupiler League (Leuven, Lokeren) and the Eredivise (Breda, Utrecht, Heracles Almelo) without ever making too many waves. It was especially in the Netherlands that he made a name for himself: first at NAC Breda (29 goals, 13 assists in 40 games including tax) when he arrived from Belgium during the 2016-17 season then then to Heracles Almelo (18 goals, 6 assists in 29 games) after his two average seasons with Utrecht in 2019-20. Services which allowed him to return to Plat-Pays in July 2020 for €4 million.
It was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign
Admired on the Feyenoord side where a crowdfunding campaign had been launched to keep him, Dessers will ultimately not have been able to continue with the “Trots van Zuid” since in August 2022 it is finally towards Italy and Cremonense that Genk transferred him for €6.5 million but above all a very mixed success (29 matches, 7 goals, 2 assists). Arriving in the summer of 2023 in Scotland for €5 million, the Nigerian has since started moving forward again with Rangers (34 goals, 13 assists in 80 TCC appearances).
Although he is not seen as a full-fledged starter this season, the former Belgian U21 international displays rather honorable statistics which caught the eye of the ASSE data unit (12 goals, 4 assists in just 1583 minutes played in all competitions).
Arne Slot (Liverpool) est fan
Today coach of a Liverpool that is rolling in Europe, Arne Slot (ex-Feyenoord) said of Cyriel Dessers that he is a “complete player”: “He is athletic, he can play with his back to goal and is very skillful feet to play in combinations. He is also a player who is always attentive and capable of adapting to several systems.” During his time in Rotterdam, the person concerned was also unanimous in the locker room for his “extremely empathetic” side.
In the columns of La Derniere Heure in 2022, his former teammate at Genk Thomas Chatelle even spoke of a “jewel for a locker room” because of his “always positive personality, beneficial for a group, especially among young people”. A mentality that ticks a new box to support the very young Saint-Etienne squad. Under contract until June 2027 in Glasgow, Cyriel Dessers is today valued at €4 million by Transfermarkt.
Some images of Cyriel Dessers with the Rangers last year:
His 10 goals in the first Europa Conference League in 2022 (top scorer in the competition):
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