Glasgow Rangers have not had the best success rate when it has come to bringing in players in an attempt to improve their first-team squad over the past five years.
The Gers have not won the Scottish Premiership title since the 2020/21 campaign and have not won any trophy since Philippe Clement lifted the League Cup in 2024.
Over the years, the Ibrox giants have spent too much money on players who have not done enough on the pitch to justify the money spent on their services.
One of the players who teetered on the border of success and failure throughout his time at the club, though, was divisive centre-forward Cyriel Dessers.
Why Cyriel Dessers was a divisive player for Rangers
The Nigeria international was a significant signing for Michael Beale in the summer of 2023 when he joined from Italian side Cremonense for a fee of £4.5m.
Dessers ended his time at Ibrox with a record of 52 goals and 17 assists in 116 appearances in all competitions in just over two seasons at the club, which is a terrific return on paper.
He was not as appreicated by supporters and pundits as a player with that goal record may be expected to be, though, because there was more to his record than what it seemed at face value.
|
Dessers (Premiership) |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
35 |
35 |
|
Goals |
16 |
18 |
|
Minutes per goal |
143 |
118 |
|
Big chances missed |
26 |
20 |
|
Conversion rate |
16% |
22% |
|
Ground duel success rate |
29% |
34% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
40% |
31% |
Dessers missed a whopping 46 ‘big chances’ in two seasons in the Premiership, whilst also losing the majority of his physical duels, which speaks to his lack of consistency as a finisher and his lack of physicality in the number nine roles.
His performances on the European stage best sum up why he was such a divisive player for the Gers, as the striker only scored four goals and missed ten ‘big chances’ in 19 matches in the Europa League.
The experienced star was not a total waste of money for Rangers, because he scored plenty of goals, but it is also difficult to call him a successful signing due to the struggles that he also had.
Rangers have been rinsed by a worse signing than Dessers
However, there is a signing in the current squad who cost a similar amount of money to Dessers and is not offering as much value as the Nigerian star did at Ibrox.
In January of this year, Danny Rohl wanted to bolster his options in the middle of the park and decided to swoop for Sturm Graz central midfielder Tochi Chukwuani for a fee of £4.3m, only £200k less than what Rangers paid for Dessers in 2023.
After eight months at Ibrox, it currently looks like the Light Blues are being rinsed by the Danish powerhouse, because he has failed to establish himself as a regular fixture in the team.
Rangers have paid more than £4.3m for the midfield talent, with his undisclosed wages on top of the £4.3m fee, and are yet to see much back for that money.
Derek McInnes replaced Rohl in the dugout over the summer and that change in management seems to have had a negative impact on the Dane’s career, as he has struggled for minutes this season.
Chukwuani only played two minutes in the 1-0 win over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, and was an unused substitute for the 3-0 win against them in the League Cup quarter-final clash at Parkhead.
|
Chukwuani in the 26/27 Premiership |
|
|---|---|
|
Opposition |
Minutes |
|
Celtic |
2 |
|
St Mirren |
12 |
|
Motherwell |
0 |
|
Falkirk |
31 |
|
Aberdeen |
0 |
|
Hibernian |
0 |
|
Dundee United |
0 |
The 6 foot 2 midfielder has been an unused substitute for four of the club’s seven matches in the Premiership this season, and has only featured in seven of their 13 games in all competitions.
He has fallen behind the likes of Nicolas Raskin, Cammy Devlin, and Dan Neil in the pecking order in the middle of the park, after he had been a regular starter under Rohl.
Chukwuani started 13 of his 15 appearances in the Premiership in the second half of last season, scoring two goals, including one in the 6-3 win over Falkirk, but he also made two errors that led to shots or goals.
In the Premiership this term, the 23-year-old flop has lost 75% of his ground duels and 57% of his aerial duels, whilst only completing 71% of his attempted passes, and is quickly becoming an unreliable performer for the Gers.
The 23-year-old midfielder is already looking like an even bigger Ibrox flop than Dessers because he cost a similar amount of money and has fallen out of favour far quicker than the Nigerian striker did, without delivering anywhere near as much quality in the final third.
Chukwuani is going to have to turn his form around and convince McInnes that he has what it takes to be a regular in the team between now and January, or else the club may have to take a decision on his future.