Former Rangers striker Marco Negri is confident that Cyriel Dessers will be following in his Ibrox footsteps after suffering relegation from Serie A with Cremonese.
Reports earlier this week suggested that Cremonese were holding out for around £7 million for the former Feyenoord, Heracles and Genk forward.
Wishful thinking, perhaps.
As Negri points out, Cremonese are not exactly negotiating from a position of strength after finishing second-bottom in Italy’s top flight last term. Calciomercato, meanwhile, believe Rangers could get Cyriel Dessers through the door for a much lower fee; talks ‘advanced’ over a deal that – with add-ons included – could set the Glasgow giants back £4.5 million.
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“I think they can do the deal because, at the end of the day, Cremonese are now in Serie B,” Negri, a prolific goalscorer during his time in Scotland, tells The Herald.
“The guy will want to sign for a club like Rangers. It will be a dream come true for him. He can always give me a phone call if he isn’t sure what to do and I will advise him to sign!”
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Dessers won the Eredivisie Golden Boot with Heracles and broke the 20-goal barrier for Feyenoord in 2022/23, half of his goals coming in the Conference League as Arne Slot’s side reached the inaugural final.
The Belgium-born Nigeria international – who turned down a move to Nottingham Forest in a previous window – is not only a goalscorer but a scorer of big goals. So many of his 20 strikes in Feyenoord colours came in the most high-pressure situations; Dessers nothing late winners and last-gasp equalisers aplenty during his time at De Kuip.
‘He is a fighter’
“Dessers is a strong guy. He is really, really physical,” adds Negri, who believes Dessers enjoyed a ‘very good season’ at least from an individual perspective at Cremonese.
“It was his first season in Serie A but he certainly showed he can fight against a big defender. He always worked very hard for the team. On both sides of the game; on the offensive side and the defensive side.
“He has areas of his game that he could improve. For me, he has to try and increase the number of goals that he scores in a season. He is not an Ally McCoist type player who can score 30 goals a season.
“But he is certainly a fighter, a guy who can bring some energy to a team. He’s physical, he can battle in one-v-one situations, he can hold the ball up, he can make clever runs for his team mates. He can definitely do a job up front.
“He can play in a two-man front line or he can play as a lone striker with two players supporting him. You can play high balls up to him because he is strong with his head, you can play it to his feet because he can hold the ball. I think he would be a good signing for Rangers.”