Ever changing as the early Scottish spring weather, Derek Cornelius' career spans continents and various tiers of football. Born in Canada on 25th of November, 1997 (age 27), Cornelius is a strapping lad of 6ft 2in (1.88m) and 13st 7lb (86kg), making him a tower of strength in his preferred position as a central defender. And isn't it simply droll that he's chosen to don the unlucky number 13 jersey while strutting about with our friendly neighbours, dear old Rangers.
A minute's glance at his past reveals a journeyman's tale moving from Neumünster in the German Regionalliga Nord to Javor Ivanjica in the Serbian SuperLiga in the cold January of 2017. A couple of years later, he decided to head back to the land that maple syrup calls home and signed for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS.
After scoring a lone goal in his debut season there in 2019, and taking to the field a commendable 17 times, one might have thought he found his footing. Fast forward through the following two seasons, and with only 18 appearances, he proved us wrong.
Never a man for monotony, in July 2021, Cornelius boarded a flight to Greece, for a bout with Panetolikos in the Super League on a loan contract. After two seasons here, where he served a respectable stint of 42 appearances and scored a couple of goals, off he went again.
Taking his journeyman odyssey to Sweden, Cornelius transferred to Malmo FF in the Allsvenskan in January 2023, conveniently behind the veil of an undisclosed fee. As if on a mission to shatter our expectations, during the two seasons that he was in Malmo, he managed a pleasant surprise with five goals in total from his 37 appearances.
Seized by wanderlust yet again, our favourite globetrotter journeyed to France in August 2024 with a price tag of around £3.4m. His time with Marseille in Ligue 1 was a bit of a mixed salad, 23 appearances with only 2 starts in the current season. Not a great look indeed.
But hold your breath! In September 2025, off went Cornelius from the sunny shores of France to the rugged land of Scotland, to loan his services and regal defensive prowess to none other than Rangers. True to form, he has remained consistent, or rather, consistent in the Cornelius way, with 6 starts and a solitary goal to show for it.
Amid all these continental escapades, one would think, surely, he hasn’t had time for international duties? Well, our tireless globetrotter had his Canadian cap on for several campaigns, including an interesting escapade across the pond for a European outing with Rangers in the Europa League. All told, Cornelius, with his never-ending club transfers and international duties, is as predictable as a Scottish winter’s day. Not that we'd know much about that here at Celtic Park.
