Let's have a character sketch 'n all about a lad named Cyriel Dessers, a Belgian bloke born on the snowy day of 8 December 1994. The lad is a prancing forward for Rangers, occasionally elbowing his way to the position of striker, standing at a not-too-shabby height of 6ft (1.85m) and tipping the scale at 12st 8lb (80kg). Mind you, he's fond of decking himself out in the number 9 jersey.
This bloke's affair with football kicked off in January 2014 when he joined Oud-Heverlee Leuven in the Pro League, Belgium. Bet the lad would remember his debut season 2013-2014, where he got to run with the big boys just once during league matches.
In July of that year, Dessers fancied a change and transferred to KSC Lokeren in the Challenger Pro League, Belgium. There he managed to wiggle his way into 15 first team appearances in league matches in 2014-2015, and 10 more in the following season. Come July 2016, Dessers decided Netherlands' Eredivisie was more his speed and transferred to NAC Breda, with 36 first team appearances and a tally of 22 goals to his name in the 2016 - 2017 season.
Another July, another move for Dessers, sees him sticking with the Eredivisie but switching over to FC Utrecht for a rather modest sum of around £300k. Two seasons with FC Utrecht (2017-2019) saw him make 40 appearances in league matches, with a scorecard boasting 12 goals.
In a fit of July wanderlust in 2019, Dessers flitted off to Heracles Almelo, still in the Eredivisie, for an undisclosed fee. There he appeared 26 times in the first team, finding the net a commendable 15 times during the 2019-2020 season.
The restlessness seemed to abate in July 2020, leading Dessers back to his home turf, Belgium. There he played for Genk in the Pro League after a transfer fee of £3.6m changed hands. Scoring goals seemed to get tougher as a Genk player, with only 7 goals in 34 appearances over three seasons (2020-2023).
August 2021 sees Dessers loaned out to Feyenoord in the Eredivisie in Netherlands, where he played 27 matches, scoring nine times during the 2021-2022 season. The loan spell ended in June 2022, but ends with a customary non-event transfer recurrent in his career, a trip to Serie B's Cremonese in Italy for a whopping £5.9m.
After scoring six times in 26 appearances in Italy, Mr. July - I mean Dessers - transferred to Rangers in the Premiership right here in Scotland for a fee of around £4.5m. His track record for the Rangers has been better than expected; 32 appearances so far this season (2024-2025) with 14 goals, plus 35 appearances last season (2023-2024) with 16 goals.
And as for the extra bits, it seems Dessers has kept himself busy, involving himself in everything from the League Cup to Scottish Cup, Europa League and even the Champions League Qualifiers, managing to score enough goals to keep the chalkboard busy. So there you have it, the account of a journeyman footballer you wouldn't want to share a taxi ride with. I mean, who could predict the next stop?
