Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers revealed why he left Genk

The 27-year-old left the Smurfs on a loan deal in the summer to return to the Dutch Eredivisie with De club aan de Maas 

Cyriel Dessers has said that he decided to leave Genk for Feyenoord because he could not afford to spend another season on the bench.

Dessers left Genk on a season-long loan deal for Feyenoord in the summer after just one year in the Belgian top-flight.

The one-cap Nigeria international had joined the Smurfs from Heracles in the summer of 2020 after finishing as the joint top scorer in the 2019/2020 Eredivisie campaign with 15 goals.

Dessers arrived at Genk with a lot of expectations, but he spent most of last season on the bench, no thanks to the unstoppable form of his countryman Paul Onuachu, who finished as the top scorer in the Jupiler League last campaign with 33 goals.

The acquisition of Ike Ugbo, who also had a great campaign with Cercle Brugge last season, pushed Dessers down the pecking order.

Dessers admitted he could not complain last year because Genk were fighting for the Championship, but he had to leave this season because he could not afford to have a repeat of last season scenario.

“Especially last year, I put the team before myself. Because I said to myself: I prefer to be on the bench of a team that wins the championship or second place and wins the cup, rather than of a team that finishes fifth or sixth, Dessers told Play Sports as per Walfoot. 

“And I had an important role in that dressing room, so I could have said: ‘Guys, get it sorted, but don’t count on me anymore.’ But I’m not like that.”

“At one point during the play-offs, I went to see Dimitri de Condé, the technical director, and I told him I said, ‘It’s over for me, really.”

“It’s over.’ There were still three games left to play. I said, ‘It’s really over for me.’ I still scored three goals in those three games,” he added.

Dessers’ decision to move has paid off, having scored eight goals in 22 appearances for Feyenoord this season.