There was a sense of getting the band back together to some extent at Rangers during the summer transfer window of 2024.
Robin Propper, following his cut-price £1.5 million arrival from FC Twente, found himself sharing a dressing room with Cyriel Dessers for the second time. Propper was a teammate of Dessers’ at Heracles when Rangers’ number nine won the Eredivisie Golden Boot back in 2020.
The experienced centre-back would then depart for FC Twente, joining forces with a certain Vaclav Cerny.
By his own admission, Propper ‘spoke to Cyriel Dessers and Vaclav Cerny’ before putting pen to paper at Ibrox a few months back. The chance to reunite with two players he knows very well with the Eredivisie was clearly something which appealed to the 31-year-old Dutchman.
Flash forward to January, at the mid-point of Propper’s debut season in Scottish football, and Rangers’ number four cannot speak highly enough of the importance Cerny, Dessers and one-time FC Twente loanee Danilo have held at various times during the 2024/25 campaign.
Robin Propper lauds three Rangers team-mates as Vaclav Cerny shines
“We definitely do things together. It’s nice to be able to speak Dutch every now and then,” Propper tells De Telegraaf. “Vaclav is doing great here. He’s the club’s top scorer [in the Premiership] and he [creates] a lot of danger.
“And Cyriel and Danilo have also scored quite a few goals.”
Dessers may have lost his place to Hamza Igamane but the Nigeria international is still Rangers’ leading marksman in all competitions with 12 goals. Danilo has six in just 14, the Brazilian putting those injury issues behind him as he put the seal on Rangers’ thrilling 3-0 victory over Old Firm rivals Celtic last week.
Cerny and Danilo formed a fearsome partnership at Twente back in 2020/21, meanwhile, and they rolled back the years when the latter set up the former to seal a tight 1-0 win over Dundee just before Christmas.
Cerny is just five goals away now from making this the most prolific season of his senior career. Whether he sticks around at Ibrox remains to be seen, however, with Cerny admitting that his Rangers future remains uncertain as parent club Wolfsburg look to recoup much of their £7 million investment.
Robin wants a Propper farewell at Eredivisie outfit FC Twente
As for Propper, the former Twente captain admits he did not plan on joining Rangers when the window opened last summer. The chance to try his hand in a foreign league for the first time – on the wrong side of 30 – was something Propper felt he could not turn down at this stage of his career, however, as he watches his old club with great interest from the other side of the Channel.
“I follow [Twente] as much as possible, although that is not always possible because we play a match every three or four days,” adds Propper. “I really enjoyed the match against Manchester United. That was really great.”
Twente’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford – secured thanks to a goal from former Rangers misfit Sam Lammers – looks like being the high point of their Europa League campaign. Despite losing only twice, Twente are 30th in a 32 team league after drawing four of their six matches.
Yet, sixth in the Eredivisie, Twente are well placed to secure a continental return in 2025, with Propper admitting that he would love to return for a genuine farewell after he was rather rushed out the door in August.
“I think they are doing well, considering that they are playing a double programme for the first time with the European matches,” Propper concludes. “I think there is still something beautiful in store for FC Twente this season.
“It’s a shame that, due to our busy schedule, I haven’t had the opportunity to return for a farewell at the Grolsch Veste. But that will definitely happen at some point.”
