Clement must sell £4.5m dud who ‘pushed extremely hard’ to sign for Rangers

Rangers supporters everywhere are still ruing Sunday’s League Cup Final defeat, with Glasgow’s giants playing out a thrilling 3-3 draw at Hampden, with second-half equalisers from Mohamed Diomande and then Danilo forcing extra time and ultimately penalties for the Ibrox side.

In the shootout, someone has to miss and, unfortunately for those bedecked in red, white and blue, housed in the west end of the National Stadium, that man was Rıdvan Yılmaz, his tame effort easily kept out by Kasper Schmeichel, as Celtic once again hoisted aloft the trophy.

However, Philippe Clement’s team will soon be back in action, welcoming Dundee to Ibrox on Saturday, with a chance to exact revenge on their fiercest rivals right around the corner, given that the next Premiership Glasgow derby in Govan is coming up as soon as 2 January.

Speaking of January, the start of a new year also signals the opening of the transfer window, so could one of the most expensive players in the current Rangers squad be on the move next month?

Rangers forward could leave the club

As reported by Rob Laurens for French outlet Le Républicain Sportif, Saint-Étienne are considering a move for Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers in January.

Les Verts, ten-times French champions, are one of France’s biggest clubs but, following promotion via the play-offs, are currently embroiled in a relegation battle, sat third bottom of Ligue 1, having lost six of their last eight, including three on the spin, hence why les Stéphanois are seeking attacking reinforcements.

In terms of Dessers, his career has already taken him to various Belgian and Dutch clubs, as well as one season in Italy, arriving in Glasgow to much excitement for a not insubstantial £4.5m fee in July 2023.

Then manager Michael Beale stated at the time that “Cyriel pushed extremely hard to make this transfer a reality”, but his time with the Light Blues since has been, at best, mixed.

Why Rangers should cash in on Cyriel Dessers

On paper, Dessers has scored 34 goals in 80 appearances for the Gers, which is not too bad at all.

He’s bagged 12 goals this season, on target at Celtic Park last May as well as in European fixtures against Servette, Real Betis, Dynamo Kyiv and, most recently, Olympiacos.

However, the Nigerian has also garnered a reputation for squandering big chances.

He’s taken 144 shots to score 27 times in the Premiership and UEFA competitions while, also according to FBref.com, his xG figure across five Europa League fixtures this season is four, with this yielding just a solitary goal so far.

Expected Goals (xG) is a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.

Following the draw in Piraeus in early November, in which he did equalise, Dessers joked that if he scored every single chance that came his way he “probably would not be at Rangers”, but could that become reality as soon as January?

In recent weeks, Clement has made the bold call to drop Dessers, leaving him on the bench for the last five matches, with Hamza Igamane repaying his manager’s faith by scoring five times in his last six appearances, with the Moroccan very much the man in form.

So, how do Rangers’ attacking options compare to one another?

Given that Igamane, Černý and Bajrami only arrived this summer, and Danilo’s time at the club has been blighted by injury, they’ve all played significantly fewer minutes than Dessers.

However, on a per-90 basis, the Nigerian is being outperformed by both of the other two natural centre-forward options, namely Igamane and Danilo, suggesting it may be time to cash in.

During the summer, it was reported by Graeme McGarry for the National that Dessers turned down the chance to join Atlanta United, with the MLS outfit bidding £4.5m for his services, having just sold former-Celtic centre-forward Giorgos Giakoumakis to Cruz Azul for close to double that.

This time, should Saint-Étienne, or anyone else for that matter, put a similar amount of money on the table for Dessers, Rangers should do everything they can to facilitate his exit.