Racing Genk of Belgium’s sporting director, Dimitri de Conde has disclosed how thrilled he is that his club has successfully completed the transfer of new Super Eagles’ invitee, Cyriel Dessers from Heracles Almelo of Holland, as he believes the lad will add a lot of value to his side.
Indeed, Dessers, who has a Nigerian mother and Belgian father will link forces with Stephen Odey and Paul Ebere Onuachu in Genk’s attack next season, ahead of which de Conde says he expects a bigger spark in the squad’s frontline even as the new arrival expressed delight with the four-year-deal that takes him back to Belgium.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that the 25-year-old is happy to be back in the country of his birth and, having supported Genk as a kid, he says the aura of being back home will spur him into peak performances for the club when the season eventually begins.
He stressed that he is happy to be back at his roots, where he hopes to do even better, even as Genk were impressed by his performances with Almelo, where his efforts helped the team to surge high and he emerged joint-top goals scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie League last season on a haul of 15 beauties for his team.
Although he is yet to play any match for Nigeria, considering how the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier he was invited for against Sierra Leone was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the 25-year-old hitman promised to justify another call-up with solid form with The Smurfs.
The deal he signed on Wednesday is expected to keep him with Genk until 2024 and the mulatto star, who joined Almelo last summer from FC Utrecht on a three-year deal, stressed that he is determined to enjoy even greater success at his new base than he had during his debut season in Holland’s top-flight league, the experience of which he believes will help him in Belgium.
He scored 18 goals and provided six assists in 29 appearances across all competitions, which saw him get many talking points and bright spotlight in the Dutch elite division, which was cancelled early because of the coronavirus pandemic but he had done enough already to attract attention.
Genk eventually beat several European clubs to secure his signature, thereby making de Conde deeply excited and declared that he now expected Dessers to use every opportunity he gets to take his career to the next level, which the fast-rising hitman believes being at home will help him achieve in a bigger way than is currently being forecasted.
Dessers, who previously had four different spells at OH Leuven, SK Lokeren, NAC Breda and FC Utrecht, revealed: “As a little boy you dream of great things. I dreamed of KRC Genk. I imagined to playing that amazing stadium.
“Now, I’m ready. Now, I’m where I want to be.In football you don’t get anything for free. Only hard work pays off. Hard work to improve every day and make your dream come true.”
De Conde added: “Cyriel has developed excellently in the Netherlands as a footballer and as a real goalscorer. He is Belgian, still young and ready to take the next step in his career. The fact that he was a supporter of our club as a child only makes it even better.”
