Celtic watched new Rangers signing after impressive season as Neil Lennon makes 'great bit of business' claim

New Rangers signing Cyriel Dessers could have moved to Celtic three years ago, former boss Neil Lennon revealed.

The 28-year-old completed his move to Ibrox from Italian side Cremonese last week in a deal reported to be worth £4.5million. It is the striker’s sixth team in six years following spells with Utrecht, Heracles and Feyenoord in the Netherlands, Belgian side Genk and then Cremonese.

It was during his time with Heracles, when he scored 18 goals in 29 appearances in the 2019/20 campaign, which earned him a move to Genk, where he became a point of interest for Celtic. That season the team won the treble under Neil Lennon. The team were keen to add a striker to the squad in the summer of 2020 and Dessers was under consideration prior to the arrival of Albian Ajeti, who signed for £5million from West Ham United.

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“I watched him when he was at Heracles and he was the leading goalscorer in the Dutch league that season,” Lennon told Go Radio. “He’s a big, powerful player with a little bit of technique sometimes, with the soft feet. But he’s a goalscorer and I think at £4.5million he could be a great bit of business for Rangers. They needed a striker and they’ve got one in the building now.

“He was one of the players that came up. You’ve many, many options in that position and Cyriel was one of them. But his goal record is good and he's a physical type. Quick, strong, has a goal in him.”

Meanwhile, Celtic star Matt O’Riley has been linked with a trio of La Liga sides.

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