Share
JOHNNY EDWARD
Nigeria international Cyriel Dessers is delighted to have fulfilled his childhood dream of playing in the Italian Serie A after completing a move to newly promoted side, Cremonese, on Wednesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Cremonese signed the Nigeria forward from Belgian side Genk for an undisclosed fee.
The newly-promoted Italian Serie A club were among a number of clubs interested in the 27-year-old, who was top scorer in the inaugural Europa Conference League last season with 10 goals for runners-up Feyenoord.
After the Italian side announced his signing on Wednesday, Dessers said he was delighted to have fulfilled his dream of playing in Italy.
“I feel like a child unwrapping this Christmas gift by joining one of the most illustrious leagues in the world,” Dessers said.
“It is going to be a difficult challenge full of obstacles, but I am ready to defend the colours of Cremonese.
“I’m looking forward to living a childhood dream in a new environment and doing all I can to help the team in the battles ahead.”
Dessers becomes the second Nigerian, after David Okereke – who joined Cremonese from Club Brugge in July – to join the Serie A newcomers.
Born in Belgium to a Belgian father and a Nigerian mother, Dessers chose to represent the Eagles at the senior level and made his debut against Tunisia in an international friendly in Austria in October 2020.
He spent the 2021/22 season on loan at Feyenoord and became a club hero despite featuring just for a season.
The striker had his most impressive campaign at the Stadium Club, scoring 20 goals and adding four assists in 41 appearances, which helped the club make their first European competition final in over 40 years.
Dessers scored 11 times in 43 appearances for Genk after joining in 2020 from Dutch side Heracles, where his 15 league goals saw him finish as the Eredivisie’s joint-top scorer in the 2019/20 season.
The Super Eagles striker also hit 29 goals in 40 matches for NAC Breda in the Dutch second tier in 2016/17, before he joined topflight Utrecht and scored 19 times in 56 games.
Cremonese will begin their topflight campaign against Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi Stadium on Sunday.
