Cyriel Dessers

Lokeren In April 2014, Dessers signed a two-year deal with Lokeren.

NAC Breda In July 2016, he signed for Eerste Divisie club NAC Breda on a contract until the summer of 2019. On 28 May 2017, they were promoted to the Eredivisie after a 4–1 victory over NEC, in which Dessers scored three goals. He finished the season with 29 goals in 40 matches.

FC Utrecht In July 2017, Dessers moved to FC Utrecht, agreeing a contract for three years with an option for an additional year.

Heracles Almelo Dessers joined Heracles Almelo in July 2019. After the 2019–20 Eredivisie season was abandoned, he was jointly awarded the top goalscorer award alongside Steven Berghuis, with 15 goals each.

Genk and loan to Feyenoord On 30 June 2020, Dessers moved to Genk on a four-year deal.

On 31 August 2021, Dessers returned to the Netherlands to join Feyenoord on loan with an option to buy. He scored his first goal for the club on 19 September, scoring Feyenoord's fourth goal in a 4–0 away win against PSV. Dessers finished the season as UEFA Europa Conference League Top scorer with ten goals in 12 matches and was also selected for the UEFA Europa Conference League Team of the Season. Overall Dessers scored 20 goals for Feyenoord in 41 matches during season 2021–22.

On 1 June 2022, Feyenoord announced that they had opted not to exercise the option to purchase Dessers' contract.

Cremonese On 10 August 2022, Dessers signed for Italian club Cremonese. Dessers scored seven goals for Cremonese in 29 matches. Cremonese finished 19th in the Serie A table and were relegated to Serie B.

Rangers 2023–24 season On 6 July 2023, Dessers joined Scottish Premiership club Rangers for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 5 August 2023, starting in a 1–0 defeat away to Kilmarnock. Four days later, Dessers scored his first goal for Rangers, against Swiss club Servette in a Champions League qualifying tie.

On 21 April 2024 Dessers scored twice against Heart of Midlothian to send Rangers to the final of the Scottish Cup.

Following this Dessers scored another winning goal against St Mirren. Dessers' performances were praised by his manager Philippe Clement. Following this game Dessers scored his 21st goal of the season in an away match against Celtic. Dessers 22nd goal of the season came from a header against Dundee at Ibrox stadium with the assist for the goal from teammate Todd Cantwell.

2024–25 season After scoring a double in the league against Ross County, Rangers manager Philippe Clement praised Dessers performance stating, "It's clear [Dessers] is taking the right steps and becoming more and more important. He's growing as a player, that’s what we want".

In January 2025, Dessers scored a hat-trick in Rangers fourth round Scottish Cup tie against Fraserburgh and finished the match as team captain in the absence of James Tavernier and Jack Butland. Four days later, in a Europa League match against Manchester United, he scored Rangers equaliser in a 2–1 defeat. In March 2025 in the first game under Barry Ferguson in Europe, Rangers beat Fenerbahçe 3–1 away from home, Dessers earned plaudits after scoring and assisting, whilst also having two goals ruled narrowly offside.

Panathinaikos On 1 September 2025, Desseres joined Greek club Panathinaikos on a permanent transfer for a reported £3.5m fee.

International career 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.

In May 2025, Dessers was called up again to the Nigerian national team for the Unity Cup matches between Ghana and either of Jamaica or Trinidad and Tobago. In the first game against Ghana, he scored the opening goal against Ghana for the second consecutive time against them after being set up by Sodiq Ismaila in the 14th minute.

On 11 December 2025, Dessers was called up to the Nigeria squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dessers goal.

Feyenoord UEFA Conference League runner-up: 2021–22

Rangers Scottish League Cup: 2023–24

Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations third place: 2025

Individual Eredivisie Player of the Month: November 2019 Eredivisie top scorer: 2019–20 UEFA Conference League top scorer: 2021–22 UEFA Conference League Team of the Season: 2021–22 Scottish Premiership top scorer: 2024–25