Rangers fans went into the summer with a sense of excitement as the promise of new forwards ended with questions being asked when Cyriel Dessers arrived.
Taking the number nine shirt, it was clear who was going to be preferred at first choice, even after Danilo arrived at the club to bolster the attacking options in the squad.
Rangers had the chance to sign several strikers on free transfers instead of Cyriel Dessers with Jean-Philippe Krasso proving during the African Cup of Nations that he might have been a better option.
Rangers made summer mistake with Jean-Philippe Krasso
Michael Beale was obviously looking for someone who could replace Alfredo Morelos to become an Ibrox hero.
A striker who can occupy defenders on his own in European football but find space in packed penalty boxes domestically.
The profile was someone with the physicality to handle Scottish football but who also had the technical ability to link play and be more clinical than some of the forwards we had seen in the past.
Had Cyriel Dessers been signed on a free transfer, there probably wouldn’t be the same criticism when Rangers signed him.
The problem is, we paid over £4.3m for the 29-year old.
Jean-Philippe Krasso is three years younger and was available on a Bosman after leaving Saint Etienne.
After joining Red Star Belgrade he has managed a goal every 119 minutes in the league plus a couple of assists.
Last season he got 17 goals and 12 assists in 35 games.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out who looked better value for money.
Krasso’s decisiveness in his goal for the Ivory Coast also highlights one major difference, in this situation Dessers frequently looks like he doesn’t know what he is trying to do.
Red Star are not big payers either so Krasso’s £6,000 per week salary at Saint Etienne could have been significantly improved by moving to Rangers.
Cyriel Dessers is on a reported £27,000 per week after signing for Rangers from Cremonese.
The recruitment hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as been made out but decisions like this have to be smarter.
Whilst Dessers was missing chances for Rangers, Krasso was sealing the win for the Ivory Coast in a major tournament with a well taken goal.
It’s not even hindsight, fans were asking these questions before Dessers arrived, hopefully, Nils Koppen being in place will stop this sort of mistake being made again.
