The Rangers moment that summed up star's 'strange situation' with 'simple' solution
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Cyriel Dessers’ Rangers hat-trick in the Scottish Cup yesterday could be one of his last acts at the club.
The ‘love him or hate him’ frontman helped put Highland League Fraserburgh to the sword with a hat-trick and even finished the game wearing the captain’s armband after James Tavernier was subbed.
That was after he missed an absolute sitter with the goal at his mercy.
It means the Nigerian is now the top scorer in Scotland, and that’s despite finding starts harder to come by in recent weeks after Hamza Igamane took over as Rangers‘ first pick.
The Nigerian has been attracting transfer interest all through the window and could be someone the club cashes in on given his reduced status within the squad.
Serie A side Cagliari are said to have made Dessers their number one target as they look for a striker to help with their fight against Serie A relegation.
He previously played there for Cremonese and is also wanted by Empoli as well as Saint-Ettienne in France.
Scott Arfield reckons the number nine will be in ‘conversations around Europe’ with clubs always searching for someone who can get them goals.
But Philippe Clement sent a clear message to the Rangers board – if he’s sold he will need to be replaced by the same level of quality.
Cyriel Dessers’ Rangers situation is ‘strange’
Dessers has been an enigma pretty much all the way through his time in Glasgow.
And Stephen McGinn reckons his situation is a strange one because he may not be remembered all that fondly despite how impressive his scoring stats may look in hindsight.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, the pundit said: “Yeah, it’s such a strange situation because, on the face of it, whenever Cyriel Dessers leaves this football club you’ll probably look back and his numbers will reflect more positively than he’s remembered.
“Even today, the fact he’s scored three and set one up and it never even felt like he was going to be man of the match, probably sums up where it’s at for Cyriel Dessers right now.
“What I would say is, it was a nice moment at full-time. Ridvan Yilmaz went and dug out the match ball and his teammates looked so delighted for him, because they’ll know he’s having such a tough time on and off the park.
“He’s gone from being the main striker to playing second fiddle to Igamane, and all the noise and all the criticism.
“He’s obviously still a good teammate because it was honestly so nice how supportive the rest of the players were about getting the match ball, getting his photo and everything else. He’s still chipping away at it.”
Dessers admitted he may need to talk to Rangers chiefs about his future and Neil McCann reckons both parties could decide to part ways.
He said: “He just looks like a an all-round good guy. Even when I hear him speaking, he just comes across as such a lovely boy.
“Sometimes you want a killer, somebody that’s got a nasty streak. Particularly in front of goal.
“But he always comes across as such a humble, very genuine person. Who, yes, misses some chances but to look and see he’s the top scorer. He’ll probably take a lot of satisfaction from that.
“Even though he’s not playing just now in front if Igamane, he’s probably got that fall back to say ‘I’m still top scorer here.
“This window is still open a couple of weeks and I think there will probably still be a considerable amount of interest in him. And he’ll still be able to command a transfer fee as well.
“That’s something Rangers will probably consider, and the boy will consider as well. If he’s not going to play, he’ll go and play his football somewhere else. Simple.”
What Philippe Clement said about Dessers
"It's a difficult question," Clement said when asked about the striker staying or going. "If Cyriel goes, you need to replace him.
"And it needs to be at least the same quality.
"If a player stays and he plays less and he becomes, because of that, unhappy and he goes down this level, while I don't fare with him, it's also not good for the club.
"We will see in the next two weeks what happens. I know if he's here, he will give everything for the club. And if he leaves, he needs to be replaced by somebody at least of the same quality.
"We have discussions every day. No, not every day, that's not true, but at least every week. We talk all the time.
"I think Cyriel shows that he has a desire to do everything for this club. And of course, he wants to play every game. It's then showing that you're the best.
"That's working at Rangers, he knows that also really well. So that's the situation."
