Philippe Clement watched Cyriel Dessers fire his first Rangers hat-trick – then admitted the striker could be on the way out of Ibrox.
The enigmatic hitman bounced back from a horrible early sitter to claim the match-ball as his treble helped Gers ease past Fraserburgh into the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. But it comes after Dessers admitted this week he is looking to have talks with Gers chiefs on his future after losing his place to Hamza Igamane.
Clement did not rule out the possibility of the Nigerian – now Scotland’s joint top scorer with 16 goals – departing this month. But he insists the 30-year-old will only be allowed to leave if Gers can first source someone to take his place. He said: “Cyriel is a really great character to have in the dressing room, in the team. He always works hard. Of course, he’s not happy if he cannot get more minutes like he had in the past to play that many minutes. But that’s football at the highest level.
“It’s competition. But he kept on working, he kept on fighting. That’s why he’s ready also to play these games and to score a hat-trick then. So, that’s what you want to see.
“We have discussions at least every week. We talk all the time. I think Cyriel shows that he has desire to do everything for this club. And, of course, he wants to play every game.
“It’s then showing that you’re the best. That’s working at Rangers. He knows that also really well. So, that’s the situation for the moment.”
Asked if he would like Dessers to stay at Ibrox beyond this month’s transfer window, the Rangers boss replied: “It’s a difficult question, that one. If Cyriel goes, you need to replace him. And it needs to be at least the same quality. If a player stays and he plays less and he becomes, because of that, unhappy and it goes down his level – something I don’t fear with him – it’s also not good for the club. So, we will see in the next two weeks what happens.
“I know if he’s here, he will give everything for the club. And if he leaves, he needs to be replaced by somebody at least from the same quality.”
Gers head to Old Trafford on Thursday night to take on Manchester United in a glamour Europa League tie. Victory against Ruben Amorim’s ropey Red Devils would go a long way to securing their place in the last 16 of UEFA’s second-tier tournament.
They secured their place in the same round of the Scottish Cup after thumping their Highland League visitors 5-0. Dessers grabbed the headlines with his treble – but Scott Barbour almost write himself into the Brock’s history books as he snatched at a massive chance to level the tie with the score at 1-0.
A second-string Gers side recovered from that scare as Clinton Nsiala and Ross McCausland also got themselves on the scoresheet. A satisfied Clement – who handed first-team debuts to teenagers Mason Munn and Findlay Curtis – said: “In the first half, we should have scored more goals, but we were good until the final third.
“Decision-making there in the pass, but for sure in our runs also. So, there you saw that we played with some players who played less minutes in the last month or never at this level. And the coordination between players, that way, if somebody is in one position, then somebody needs to run somewhere else.
“So, we paid attention to that at half-time and the second half was much better and we created more clearer chances and clearer goals also. About the attitude of the team, I think it was all game good with everybody.
“Not only the hunger and desire to score goals, but also to win balls again and to win the duels and not to give away chances. So, it’s a positive afternoon, a good result. I always want more.
“I would have loved to have more goals than five, but the team did everything to do the best game that they can play.”