Cyriel Dessers Rangers exit swirls addressed as Zak Lovelace shows Clement he has replacement in waiting
St Etienne have not made any contact with Rangers over Cyriel Dessers – but if exit talks do ramp up, then Philippe Clement may have an in-house replacement ready and waiting.
Reports in France have linked the Ligue 1 strugglers with a move for the Nigerian international but there looks to be several hurdles to overcome for that interest to even become reality. St Etienne’s first priority is to appoint a new head coach after they sacked Olivier Dall’Oglio, with SK Brann boss Eirik Horneland the favourite to succeed him. If he did take the job then he would need to sanction any move.
The other issue is that St Etienne are unlikely to have the financial muscle to meet Rangers’ valuation or the player’s personal demands. It depends if the French side were able to push the boat out in their fight to preserve their top-flight status.
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Dessers is still under contract at Rangers until the summer of 2027 and the striker, who has 12 goals this season, has scored a lot of goals for the Ibrox side but has split the club support with the number of big chances he misses.
Dessers has also lost his place in the starting XI in recent weeks with Hamza Iagamane and the now-fit Danilo preferred. It is likely that if a club did come in and meet Rangers’ valuation then they wouldn't stand in his way, as head coach Clement looks at ways of strengthening his own squad.
He may not have to look too far however - as there might be one ready and waiting in-house. Clement was a keen observer at lesser Hampden on Tuesday night as his B-team beat Celtic 3-2 to win the Glasgow Cup. There were valuable minutes for Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo, who each played the first half, but it was another forgotten man in striker Zak Lovelace who really grabbed the brass rings.
He scored the winner on 87 minutes, sparking wild celebrations with Clement and CEO Patrick Stewart on their feet to applaud. The 18-year-old has had a few false dawns at Ibrox but will be hoping he can now fire his way into the first-team, having already featured under the Belgian in the Europa League before his hamstring injury set him back.
A Dessers exit would certainly aid that cause, and SciSports data believe the Nigerian would be the perfect fit for Shakhtar Donetsk. His former Feyenoord assistant manager Marino Pusic is No.2 at the Ukrainian club. Their data analysis suggest Dessers would be a good fit for Shakhtar’s style of play. Dessers also played some of his best football at Feyenoord under Arne Slot and Pusic.
