The Nigeria international has completed his first month in Italy and admits that the championship is tougher than any he has ever played in
Super Eagles and Cremonese striker Cyriel Dessers has confessed that the Italian Serie A is a more difficult championship than the Dutch Eredivisie and the Belgian First Division A.
Dessers' reputation as an accomplished goalscorer in the Netherlands is not in doubt, having netted 36 goals and added ten assists in 93 Eredivisie matches. The 27-year-old forward won the top goalscorer award in 2020 while playing for lowly Heracles.
The Nigeria international only managed seven goals and five assists in 60 matches in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, but it did not take anything away from his finishing prestige.
However, after six games in Serie A, Dessers is yet to find the net and the former Genk ace admits the Italian is not for the cowardly.
Dessers, though, vows to be unstoppable once he finds his range for newly-promoted Cremonese.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Gianluca Di Marzio), Dessers said, “The (Italian) championship is difficult, harder than the Dutch and Belgian ones. But I knew that.
“Even for me, arriving in a newly promoted club from a club used to fighting for the title, it will not be easy.”
Dessers key to Cremonese's survival chances
Dessers started all of Cremonese's first six league matches, but he fired blanks as the Grey and Reds lost the first four to Fiorentina, Roma, Torino, and Inter Milan.
Cremonese have toughened up recently, picking up impressive draws at home to Sassuolo (0-0) and away to Ademola Lookman's Atalanta (1-1).
Dessers, last year's Europa Conference League top goalscorer with ten goals, is banking on his past experiences to help end his barren run in front of goal.
“I haven't scored yet, but I went close to Rome and with Sassuolo,” he continued. “In the year I was the top scorer in the Netherlands, I had scored only one goal in the first six games.
“The celebration? I did it a couple of times last season with Feyenoord and a couple with Genk in July.”
Cremonese's next league challenge is another tough home clash against Lazio on Sunday. But Dessers is confident he has seen enough improvements in the Grey-and-Red ranks to suggest they can carve out a first win of the campaign.
He added: “Lazio are strong, but now we are more solid in defense, and if we improve even in attack, we can give the first joy to our fans at Zini.”
Dessers joined Cremonese from KRC Genk for €6.50 million in August. He had scored three goals in three games for the Belgians this term before completing the switch to Italy.
