Ah, Cyriel Dessers, a divine product of Belgian origin, gifted to the world on 8 December 1994. Now aged 30, dawned the number 9 jersey as a forward, primarily steering his talents as a striker for the exceedingly charming Rangers. He’d stun you with his physique, standing tall at a neat 6ft (1.85m) and weighing a committed 12st 8lb (80kg).
Coaxing quizzical brows in January 2014, Dessers flirted with allegiance to Oud-Heverlee Leuven in the Pro League in Belgium. Till July of the same year, he made a solitary first-team appearance. However, with much gusto and a surprising amount of holiday activities, Dessers relocated to KSC Lokeren, developing into a hot favourite with an impressive 15 league matches in the 2014-2015 season and another ten during the subsequent term.
As July 2016 marked itself onto calendars, Dessers felt the urge to transcend borders and exchanged Belgium's Challenger Pro League for the resplendent glamour of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands, specifically one NAC Breda. A slightly more successful commitment here, with a whopping 22 goals engraving his name in club lore over 36 league matches in the 2016-2017 season.
In what can only be described as becoming a tradition at this point, Dessers again relocated in July 2017, this time gracing the environs of FC Utrecht. Deducting about £300k from their coffers, Utrecht fans witnessed their new signing strut his stuff over 29 matches, netting a respectable nine goals in 2017-2018, and another three over 11 appearances in the 2018-2019 season.
As predictable as the Sun rising, Dessers transferred yet again in July, only this year was 2019. Heracles Almelo was the name being sung in his household as he bid auf wiedersehen to Utrecht in a deal mired in mystery. Almelo, much like the clubs before, only managed to hold onto Dessers for a fleeting year, during which he netted himself a delightful 15 goals over 26 appearances.
Guess when Dessers transferred next? Pass yourself a medal if you deduced July 2020! By now Dessers must have been fluent in the Belgian national anthem as he returned to a familiar territory, signing for Genk in the Pro League for a hefty £3.6m. He made it onto the pitch 28 times, slotting four goals into the back of the net in his first season, following it up by three appearances each for the next two subsequent seasons.
With a loan spell to Feyenoord in Netherlands and a short stay at Cremonese in Italy (where he joined for a hearty £5.9m fee), Dessers, true to his seasonal migration pattern, ended up at Rangers in Scotland by July 2023 for a fair sum of £4.5m. Here we witnessed the Belgian bloom with 16 goals from 35 appearances in the first season and 11 from 27 in the ongoing season.
Dessers didn't just gather dust during the non-league season, oh no. The Belgian wizard of the ball went ahead and showed off his prowess in the League Cup, the Scottish Cup, and both the Europa and Champions League Qualifiers for Rangers, bending in an overwhelming nine goals!
So yes, the fleeting Dessers may not be a Paradise inhabitant, but you have to agree, his biography makes for a proper journeyman footballer tale, doesn't it?
