Who Is Cyriel Dessers, The Belgian-Born Nigerian Player?

Cyriel Kolawole Dessers (born December 8, 1994) is a Nigerian-born professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Cremonese. He also represents the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles.

Early Life

Cyriel Dessers was born on the 8th of December, 1994, in Tongeren, Belgium, to a Belgium father and a Nigerian mother.

Career

Professional Career

Cyriel Dessers began his career at OH Leuven. Dessers and Lokeren signed a two-year deal in April 2014.

In July 2016, he signed a contract with NAC Breda of the Dutch Eerste divisie that would last until the summer of 2019.

On May 28, 2017, they were promoted to the Eredivisie after a 1-4 victory over NEC in which Dessers scored three goals. For the season, he scored 29 goals in 40 games.

Dessers joined FC Utrecht in July 2017 after signing a three-year contract with an option for an additional year. On August 11, 2017, he scored the game’s first goal.

After the 2019-20 Eredivisie season ended, Dessers and Steven Berghuis shared the top goalscorer award with 15 goals each.

On June 30, 2020, he signed a four-year contract with Genk. Dessers returned to the Netherlands on August 31, 2021, and signed a loan with a purchase option with Feyenoord. He scored Feyenoord’s fourth goal in a 4-0 win over PSV on September 19, his first goal for the club.

On June 1, 2022, Feyenoord announced that they would not exercise their option to purchase Dressers’ contract. Dessers will join Cremonese on August 10, 2022 in Italy.

International Career

Dessers decided to represent Nigeria internationally in December 2019. He was named to Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr’s team for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Sierra Leone on March 4, 2020. Dessers made his international debut on October 13, 2020, in a friendly 1-1 draw with Tunisia.