According to reports from the Daily Mail Michael Beale is looking at bringing two Serie A based strikers, 26-year-old Atalanta Sam Lammers and 28-year-old Cyriel Dessers from Cremonese.
Lammers moved to Atalanta for £7.1m from PSV in summer 2020 and Dessers moved to Cremonese last summer from Genk in a £5.5m move. Both players played at relegated side this season, albeit Lammers was only on loan at Sampdoria.
Sam Lammers
He fits the profile of a player who had much promise when he was younger but never lived up to it. He’s capable of playing in the wide positions as well as through the middle. He’s struggled to get going in Serie A and only had two goals and two assists in 33 appearances this season.
He’s incredibly talented on the ball and an excellent dribbler, something Rangers don’t have from a striker. Unfortunately the ability with the ball at his feet hasn’t coincided with an ability to finish off chances. His goal conversion rate this season was a miserly 4%, not what Rangers are needing.
His last big goal scoring season was in 18/19 while on loan at Heerenveen where he scored 16 goals and got 5 assists in 31 appearances.
A player with ability on the ball that hasn’t been able to find a goal scoring touch? Sounds very similar to Ryan Kent. The difference though, is the standard of league. He’s been playing in Serie A and the Bundesliga the last three seasons. He set the heather alight in any of these seasons but there must be a player in there for him to get these opportunities.
Is he similar to Cantwell in that he just needs a change of scenery to rejuvenate a formerly promising career? Time will tell but, on paper, this is a deal that probably won’t excite fans too much.
Cyriel Dessers
Dessers played for the second worst team in Serie A this season and managed to get six goals and two assists in 26 total appearances. In the last few seasons he’s also played at Genk and Feyenord where he posted decent records.
He’s a much more natural finisher than Lammers and has a great physical presence up top. He uses his body very cleverly to turn defenders, much like Morelos did for Rangers at his best. He’s equally comfortable with either foot which is a huge advantage when it comes to taking chances first time.
He’s capable of being the focal point of the attack if Beale plans on playing one up top. He also works really well with a second striker due to his ability to hold up the ball and link the play.
He had an incredible European run with Feyenord last year and finished top scorer of the UEFA Conference League, scoring one more than Tammy Abraham. In 13 appearances (7 starts) he scored 10 goals, averaging a goal every 77 minutes! With an incredible conversion rate of 36% he’s shown he can do it on the European stage.
Playing in a team who create as many chances as Rangers he’s bound to get goals. The fact that Cremonese have been relegated this season will drive his price down and potentially lead to him wanting to move on himself.
He offers the finish ability that Colak does but with a much more well rounded game. This signing will come down to whether the price demanded is fair or not because he would be excellent for Rangers.
Michael Beale spoke about wanting to bring in players with experience at higher levels and it doesn’t get much bigger than the Serie A. Two completely different forwards, would you be happy with either of these two coming in?
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