‘Cyriel Dessers verbally agrees £1.5m Rangers exit deal’
Cyriel Dessers seems set to depart Rangers after a prolific goalscoring season in 2024/25.
The Nigerian finished the campaign as the Premiership’s top scorer with 18 strikes to his name, and he added a further 11 goals across European and domestic cup competitions.
Dessers became a key figure at Ibrox during what was a stellar season for the Nigerian, and he would surely have been one of the players that Russell Martin would have been desperate to build his team around next term.
However, it now looks as though the new boss could be robbed of that opportunity, with Dessers having reached an agreement elsewhere.
Dessers has verbally agreed to join AEK Athens for £1.5m-per-year
The frontman joined the club for £4.5million two years ago, and has undoubtedly justified that fee with his goal return in Govan.
However, Dessers’ future has been subject to much speculation in recent weeks, and now it looks as though his Ibrox exit will now come to fruition.
The 30-year-old has verbally agreed on a deal with AEK Athens which will see him earn around £1.5m per year in wages, according to the Daily Record (13 June).
The Greek giants had previously outlined Dessers as their main transfer priority this summer, and are now working on agreeing a fee of over £5m with Rangers in order to get their man.
Selling Dessers would add to Rangers’ spending capability
Kevin Thelwell and the club hierarchy will know that the need to arm Martin with plenty of resources this summer if he is to begin closing the gap to their city rivals next term.
The former Southampton and Swansea boss has a big job on his hands to end Celtic’s domination of the Premiership, and will surely require several new additions.
Losing Dessers is undoubtedly a big blow for the club, considering he has a proven track record of finding the back of the net for the Bears, but it would at least provide a boost to their spending capabilities for the rest of the window.
Rangers were expected to be set an initial transfer budget of £20m to conduct their dealings, but if Dessers is sold, then the fee received would surely push that figure up over £25m at a minimum.
There’s no getting away from the fact that losing their main goal threat would be a major setback for Martin and Co. in their preparations for next season. However, it would give them the perfect opportunity to go out and find their next potential bargain striker.