The Light Blues are reportedly interested in signing the Scottish centre-forward.
Last month, Glasgow Rangers’ 2023–24 campaign came to an unsatisfactory end when they lost the SFA Cup final at Hampden Park. Adam Idah’s goal in the ninetieth minute gave their Glasgow rivals the victory, capping a difficult month for Philippe Clement’s club, who had already witnessed Celtic win the Scottish Premiership. In response to that setback, head of recruiting Nils Koppen and the head coach from Belgium have moved quickly before the summer transfer market formally opens for business on Friday.
Center back Clinton Nsiala will officially join the team at the beginning of next month when his contract with AC Milan expires. Oscar Cortes has been brought in for a second loan spell from Lens, with an obligation to make the deal permanent next summer. Jefte, a left back, has joined from Brazilian side Fluminense.
The Gers are also reportedly in pole position to land Germany U20 international Yusuf Kabadayi from Bayern Munich on a permanent deal, to bolster their options on the flank.They do not seem to be satisfied with that, though, as the Scottish giants are also said to be in the running to add a new number nine to their squad.
The interest of Rangers in the Euro 2024 center-forward The Daily Record claims that the Light Blues are among the teams preparing a possible raid on Bristol City center-forward Tommy Conway. According to the article, Koppen is preparing a bid to recruit the Scotland international, who is part of the Euro 2024 squad and may play against Germany on Friday, in order to increase Clement’s attacking alternatives. According to the report, Celtic, a rival team in Scotland, are also interested in the 21-year-old striker and may try to recruit him next year for a compensation sum of £300,000.
According to the site, he has one year remaining on his Ashton Gate contract. Starting in January of next year, Premiership teams will be allowed to sign him on a pre-contract agreement; if he runs out of time, they will just be required to pay £300,000. Conway has been in negotiations with the English Championship team about an extension, but according to the Daily Record, the talks have not resulted in a favorable outcome for the team.
Amidst interest from Rangers, Celtic, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Bristol Post says that the Robins are now accepting offers to cash in on the striker during the current transfer window. This implies that the teenage striker might be acquired by the Light Blues before the 2024–2025 season, rather than needing to wait until the next year to bring him to Ibrox. Cyriel Dessers should be disappointed by these reports about the club’s interest in a deal to sign the Scotland international, since it may affect his playing time in Glasgow.
Numbers from Cyriel Dessers’ first season with the Rangers After Cremonese was relegated from Serie A last summer, the Nigerian attacker signed a permanent contract with the Scottish giants.
He arrived at Ibrox thanks to Michael Beale, and by the end of the 2023–24 season, the Belgian-born marksman had made 54 appearances across all competitions, tallying 22 goals and nine assists.
On paper, the seasoned attacker’s season of more than 20 goals in his first year in the nation appears amazing, but when you look closer at his performances and the methods by which he reached that total, it seems less remarkable.
First off, Dessers was the only Rangers player to do worse than their xG (expected goals). He outperformed 5.72 goals with 16 Premiership goals from 21.72 xG.
As you can see in the table above, the 29-year-old dud missed a staggering 27 ‘big chances’ – 18 more than anyone else in the squad – on his way to 16 league goals.
Why the club’s reported interest in Tommy Conway is bad news for Cyriel Dessers The 21-year-old ace’s form for Bristol City suggests that he could come in as an upgrade on the Gers dud.
These statistics show that the striker, who was also dominated by opposition defenders in physical duels, was incredibly wasteful in front of goal and let his teammates down on a regular basis by not making the most of the high-quality opportunities that were created for him.
His finishing ability in the Championship for the Robins indicates that the potential is there for him to be far more ruthless than Dessers in front of goal, which could then see him dropped to the bench or from the squad entirely.
The Scotland international, who Gers supporters may now keep a close eye on during the European Championships this summer, completed 85% of his passes in the second tier and won 45% of his ground duels.
Whereas, Dessers completed 71% of his attempted passes in the Premiership and won just 29% of his battles on the deck, which suggests that the Bristol City star could come in and offer more in and out of possession outside of the final third.
As you can see in the table above, Conway also caught the eye with his efficient finishing as he scored ten goals from 9.25 xG, an overperformance of 0.75.
This suggests that the Scottish talent has the quality in front of goal to make the most of the chances that are created for him, which was not the case for Dessers this season as he significantly underperformed against his expected tally.
He could, in theory, score more than 16 that the ex-Cremonese number nine did for the Gers if the team can provide him with the high-quality chances that they created for the current Light Blues striker, due to the finishing quality Conway displayed in England.
Therefore, Rangers being interested in the 6 foot 1 striker, who was once dubbed an “absolute hero” for Bristol City by talent scout Jacek Kulig, is bad news for the Nigeria international as it could spell the end of his time as the first-choice striker at Ibrox.
The statistics indicate that he could be an upgrade on Dessers if Clement and Koppen can sign the youngster ahead of Celtic and Wolves, which is why this could be a shrewd piece of business by the club – whether it happens this summer or next year for £300k.
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