Dessers: Nigeria forward completes Cremonese move from KRC Genk

Nigeria forward Cyriel Dessers has joined newly-promoted Serie A club Cremonese from Belgian side KRC Genk.

Dessers becomes the second Nigerian, after David Okereke, who joined the Cremonese from Club Brugge in July 2022.

The Italian side announced the signing of the Super Eagles star on Wednesday, although they did not divulge details of his contract.

Meanwhile, Dessers, after featuring in the academy and youth competitions with Belgium’s OH Leuven, scored 20 as a 19-year-old in the 2013/14 season. Leuven gave him first-team minutes when they played and lost 3-2 to Mons.

In 2014, the forward signed for Lokeren, another Belgian outfit, on a two-year deal and served them until 2016.

Dessers moved to the Netherlands in July 2016 and signed for NAC Breda, a second-tier club then. Together with Breda, they got promoted to the Eredivisie in 2017 after a 4-1 victory over NEC Nijmegen, a game in which the Nigerian scored a hat-trick.

He was signed by FC Utrecht in July 2017 after agreeing to a three-year contract with an option for a one-year extension.

When the 2019/20 Eredivisie campaign was abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dessers was awarded as the joint top goalscorer alongside Steven Berghuis after both scored 15 goals.

He became the second African, after Ivorian Wilfred Bony, to finish as the top goalscorer in the Eredivisie.

He then moved to Genk, from Heracles Almero, in June 2020 in a four-year deal, but returned to the Netherlands to feature for Feyenoord on loan in August 2021.

He scored his first goal for Feyenoord against PSV in a 4-0 victory in September. Despite his loan deal having an option to buy clause, Feyenoord did not exercise it.

Although he was born in Belgium to a Belgian father and a Nigerian mother, Dessers chose to represent the Super Eagles on the international stage.

He made his debut against Tunisia in a game that was held in October 2020 and ended in a 1-1 draw.