Heracles striker Cyriel Dessers admits he has never visited Nigeria but wants to play for the Super Eagles
Heracles striker Cyriel Dessers has revealed his desire to play for Nigeria at international level rather than his country of birth Belgium.

The 24-year-old, who was born in Leuven to a Belgian father and qualifies for Nigeria through his mother, is uncapped at youth level.

Top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie with 11 goals, he was named the league's November Player of the Month after scoring six goals and producing three assists.


He admits he has a slim chance of playing for Belgium but reveals that his performance has caught the attention of Nigeria selectors and he is open to playing for the three-time African champions.

"There has already been contact with the Nigerian association. After the match against ADO Den Haag, the assistant from Nigeria sent me a message that I was doing well," Dessers told Belgian outlet Sporza.

"But that is not going to be easy either because there are 300 million Nigerians worldwide.

"I have never been to Nigeria, also because the political situation has not been so calm in recent years.

"The last year is only slightly better. I would like to go there and it would be twice as good to do that even if it's only to play a friendly game against Madagascar or Mauritius."

Regarded as a strong centre-forward and standing at a little over 6 feet tall, Dessers started his career at local Belgian side OH Leuven but only made a solitary senior appearance against Mons in March 2014.

He then joined local rivals Lokeren at the start of the 2014/15 season, where he enjoyed regular football and scored seven goals in 40 appearances across two seasons.

Dessers crossed the border to the Netherlands and joined second-tier side NAC Breda in the summer of 2016, helping the team to immediate promotion with 29 goals in 40 matches.

A spell at FC Utrecht led the towering player to Heracles this summer and his 13 goals in 16 appearances have brought praise from the fans and media back in Belgium.

West Ham have real problems in the attacking department at the moment.

They signed Sebastien Haller for £45 million in the summer, and he has looked extremely unconvincing over the past couple of months.

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The Frenchman will surely come good at some point, but even if he does, the Hammers need more firepower up front.

Albian Ajeti is clearly not good enough.

But who should West Ham, be targeting?

An interesting option for them could be Heracles hitman Cyriel Dessers.

The 24-year-old is in the form of his life, and he has already banged in 13 goals in 16 games for the Dutch outfit this season.


He seems to be a natural born goalscorer, and although he doesn’t do much aside from scoring goals, he is exactly the type of striker the Hammers need to partner Haller.

Dessers is a strong centre-forward, and standing at 6ft 1 in tall, he seems to be ideally suited to the Premier League, what with its robust nature.

The Belgian is under contract with Heracles until the summer of 2022, so he will certianly not come cheap.

West Ham should have more than enough financial firepower to test the Dutch side’s resolve, however.

At 24, Dessers still has plenty of years left ahead of him before he even reaches his prime.

And if the Hammers do sign the Heracles hitman, he could end up being a really useful addition over many years to come.

His pictures please

Call him up at once,
Competition with the number 9 jersey is what we need