Cremonese striker Cyriel Dessers is set to join Rangers after just one season in Serie A: here are five things you may not know about his only year in Italy’s top flight.
The 28-year-old is leaving the Stadio Zini after Cremonese’s relegation to Serie B. He joined the Grigiorossi for €6.5m from Genk in 2022, but the Nigeria international had spent the previous season on loan at Feyenoord, losing the Conference League Final against Roma.
One of the highlights of his season in Cremona was precisely against the Giallorossi. Dessers opened the account in a one-legged Coppa Italia quarter-final at the Stadio Olimpico in February. Cremonese surprisingly won 2-1 and earned a spot in the semi-final.
The Grigiorossi may have won just five Serie A games in 2022-23 but eliminated Roma and Napoli from the Coppa Italia.
Dessers scored the first of his six league goals in a home 4-1 loss against eventual champions Napoli in October. Despite the defeat, the striker celebrated on social media, saying that scoring under Cremonese’s fans was a source of great emotion.
Dessers hasn’t used social media much at Cremonese making just three posts during the campaign, which, to be fair, didn’t offer many chances for celebrations.
The club sacked coach Massimiliano Alvini in mid-January with just seven points in 18 games. He was replaced by Davide Ballardini, but Cremonese didn’t win their first Serie A game until week 24 despite eliminating Napoli from Coppa Italia in Ballardini’s debut as their new coach.
Dessers’ season ended early as he missed the last six games of the campaign due to knee problems. He managed seven goals in 29 appearances across all competitions in his first and only season in Italy. However, he was fit for most of the season, missing only four more games due to injuries.