Glasgow Rangers ultimately left Hampden Park disappointed after they were beaten 5-4 on penalties by their city rivals in the final of the League Cup on Sunday.
Philippe Clement’s side gave it their best shot and just fell short from the spot, as Turkish left-back Ridvan Yilmaz was the only player to miss his penalty.
The match went to penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw in regulation time, that saw both sides thinking that they could go on and win at various points.
It was the Light Blues who took the lead through Nedim Bajrami, before goals from Daizen Maeda and Greg Taylor put Celtic 2-1 up in the second half.
Nicolas Kuhn and Danilo then scored within a minute of each other, in the 86th and 87th minutes, to make the game 3-3 and take it through to penalties.
Curiously, goalkeeper Jack Butland and left-back Yilmaz, who missed the only penalty of the shootout, both stepped up as part of the five main penalty takers for Rangers, despite centre-forward Cyriel Dessers being available.
Why Rangers should sell Cyriel Dessers
The Nigeria international is the club’s number nine and the Light Blues reportedly paid a fee of £4.5m to Cremonese to sign him last year, which makes it concerning that either he did not trust himself from the spot or that Clement did not have faith in him.
Rangers need reliable players, particularly in front of goal, if they want to compete for the biggest trophies because they need stars who can step up in pressure moments, like on Sunday, and the forward seems unable to do that.
During the recent summer transfer window, Atlanta United reportedly offered £4.6m to sign Dessers from Rangers and saw their bid turned down. When questioned about it, Clement described him as a “really good” striker and that it would not have made sense to sell him as they may not have signed a better player for a similar amount of money or less.
The Light Blues must, now, hope that there is still interest, either from the MLS or elsewhere, in the forward in the January transfer window, as his form has not been reliable enough in the Scottish Premiership or in Europe during his time at the club.
Appearances
35
Goals
16
Big chances missed
27
Pass accuracy
70%
Duel success rate
33%
As you can see in the table above, Dessers was incredibly wasteful in the Premiership during the 2023/24 campaign – missing 18 more ‘big chances’ than any other player in the squad.
The Nigerian attacker has also let his side down with some poor performances in the Europa League. He has scored one goal from 3.98 xG and missed a whopping seven ‘big chances’ in six games, which shows that the Rangers dud has significantly underperformed in front of goal on the big stage.
Rangers cannot afford to sell Dessers without signing a replacement, as Danilo has missed 46 matches through injury since the start of last season, so they will need to dip into the market to bring in a striker in order to finally cash in on the £4.5m flop.
Rangers' interest in Premier League youngster
Back in November, The Boot Room named Rangers as one of a number of clubs interested in signing Brighton & Hove Albion centre-forward Evan Ferguson when the January transfer window opens for business.
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The report claimed that the Seagulls have opened the door for the Ireland international to make a temporary exit from the club for the second half of the season, due to his lack of game time in the Premier League this term.
It added that Brighton would want some guarantees that the Irishman will play regular first-team football, rather than going from being on the fringes at the AMEX to being on the fringes elsewhere, in Scotland or in England.
The Boot Room revealed that fellow Scottish giants Celtic also have an interest in the striker, whilst West Ham, Fulham, Southampton, and Leicester would like to offer him a chance at staying in the Premier League.
Rangers must convince Brighton, and Ferguson, that competing for trophies and playing in Europe will be more beneficial to him than fighting relegation in England.
Why Rangers should sign Evan Ferguson
Winning the race for the Ireland international’s signature would provide Clement with the additional striker that he needs to be able to sanction an exit for Dessers.
The Gers would then have Hamza Igamane, Danilo, and Ferguson to provide the goalscoring touch in the centre-forward position, which could lead to the Nigerian being brutally ditched in January if any more offers come in for his services.
Whilst Dessers has been incredibly wasteful, domestically and in Europe, throughout his career at Ibrox, the Brighton youngster’s performances at first-team level to date suggest that he has the potential to be a terrific addition.
Ferguson, who was once described as “incredibly prolific” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has only started two of his 11 appearances in the Premier League this season, scoring one goal, but has consistently proven his quality as a finisher.
22/23
5.67
6
+0.33
23/24
3.97
6
+2.03
24/25
0.36
1
+0.64
Total
9.99
13
+3.01
As you can see in the table above, the 20-year-old marksman has outperformed his xG in each of the last three Premier League campaigns, scoring 13 times from 9.99 xG.
This shows that he can make the most of the high-quality chances that come his way inside the box, and the same cannot be said for Dessers, who continues to underperform against his xG and consistently miss ‘big chances’ – domestically and in Europe.
Taking a step back to the Premiership could allow Ferguson to hit his stride at first-team level by getting on the end of the ‘big chances’ that keep being created for Dessers, and hopefully having more success than the Nigerian forward in the second half of the season.
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