Cyriel Dessers

Cyriel Kolawole Dessers (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Nigeria national team. Dessers has spent the majority of his club career playing in Belgian and Dutch football. He was the top scorer in the Eredivisie in the 2019–20 season, while playing for Heracles Almelo. He was the top scorer in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League and was named in the competition's Team of the Season, while playing for Feyenoord. Dessers qualified to play for Nigeria at international level because of his Nigerian mother. He made his senior international debut in October 2020. Born in Belgium to a Belgian father and Nigerian mother, Dessers chose to represent Nigeria at international level in December 2019. Earlier in his career, he was called up to the Belgium under-21 national team for a game against Moldova, but he was an unused substitute. On 4 March 2020, he was called up by Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr as part of the team players invited for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures against Sierra Leone. Dessers debuted in a friendly 1–1 draw with Tunisia on 13 October 2020. In March 2024 Dessers was called up to the Nigeria team for matches against Ghana and Mali, with Dessers scoring in the Ghana match.