Cyriel Dessers: Feyenoord capture Genk star on loan

Feyenoord have confirmed the signing of Cyriel Dessers on loan from Belgian First Division A outfit Genk.

This move was necessary following the Nigeria international’s inability to tie down a regular place in the Smurfs’ starting XI – playing second fiddle to compatriot Paul Onuachu.

Dessers would be hoping to get regular playing time at the Dutch top-flight side, as well as help Arne Slot’s men, win silverware in the 2021-22 campaign.

“Feyenoord brings Cyriel Dessers back to the Netherlands. The 26-year-old striker is on loan from KRC Genk for the rest of the season,” the club wrote on their website.

“Dessers started his career in his native Belgium at Oud-Heverlee Leuven. After that, he played for Sporting Lokeren before playing for the Dutch clubs NAC Breda, FC Utrecht and Heracles. 

“Cyriel Dessers joins Feyenoord 1 with immediate effect.”

The club’s technical director Frank Arnesen is pleased with the signing of the 26-year-old claiming his arrival will provide Feyenoord with more options in attack.

“Cyriel has proven that he has the scoring ability and we are convinced that he will show that at Feyenoord as well,” he said.

“Moreover, his arrival means that we have more options to choose from in the front, and that is not an unnecessary luxury given our busy schedule.”

The striker is not a stranger to the Eredivisie having represented the likes of NAC Breda, FC Utrecht and Heracles in the past. In the 2019-20 campaign, he was the joint league’s highest goal scorer alongside Steven Berghuis having found the net on 15 occasions.  

Dessers joins Senegalese forward Aliou Balde in the fold of the 15-time Eredivisie kings.

After the international window, he is expected to join the rest of his teammates as they prepare for their next league outing against Heracles on September 12.

Despite a strong start to the season, Slot’s team has recorded uninspiring results in their last two fixtures – losing 3-1 each to Elfsborg and Utrecht.

Born in Belgium to a Belgian father and Nigerian mother, he chose to represent the Super Eagles at international level.

Dessers was first called up for Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Sierra Leone on March 4, 2020, before making his international bow seven months later against Tunisia in a friendly match that ended 1-1.