After Clement: 49ers must send £27k-p/w Rangers star packing this summer

2025 could be a year of huge change for Rangers at Ibrox.

13 points adrift Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic and out of the Scottish Cup, following an historic upset at the hands of Queen’s Park, the Gers are staring down the barrel of a trophyless season.

This has led to mass speculation surrounding Philippe Clement’s future as manager, even though Chief Executive Patrick Stewart has reiterated his support for the under-fire boss, but it might not be just the manager on the chopping block, with a mass-squad rebuild forecast too, especially in light of this week’s news.

Rangers’ proposed new owners

According to a report by Keith Jackson for the Daily Record, the San Francisco 49ers ownership group has held ‘discussions’ over a ‘multi-million-pound investment’ in Rangers, talks that they believe to be at ‘an advanced stage’.

Two years ago, 49ers Enterprises completed a takeover of Leeds United, paying £170m for 44% of the English club, with Paraag Marathe, who is the current Chairman of the EFL Championship side, overseeing ‘business ventures and major investment opportunities’ and would play a prominent role at Rangers, according to Tim Thornton and Sahil Jaidka of Sky Sports News.

The American investment group plan to ‘invest heavily’ in the Glasgow-based giants, according to Ewan Paton of the Herald, a takeover Matthew Elder of the Scotsman believes would be ‘transformational’.

Very much marooned in second in the Premiership, 13 points below Celtic but 18 points above Aberdeen, Rangers can start planning for next season, which for them will begin early with a Champions League second qualifying round tie on 22 or 23 July.

According to Football Rankings, their potential qualifying opponents include Feyenoord, Fenerbahçe, Lille, AEK Athens and Genk, underlining just how difficult these ties are likely to be, so the new ownership will want to invest heavily in this team and quickly too, so could one of Rangers’ current most-used players be sacrificed?

49ers must cut their losses on Rangers star

Since arriving at Rangers from Cremonese for £4.5m in July 2023, it’s fair to say Cyriel Dessers has divided opinion, with Graeme MacPhearson of the Scotsman saying he has been ‘both a hero and a villain’.

So, let’s dive straight into it and compare the Nigerian international to Rangers’ other strikers, namely Danilo, who arrived at the same time, and Hamza Igamane, who joined a year later.

Rangers’ current striker comparison
Statistics	Cyriel Dessers	Danilo	Hamza Igamane
Appearances	93	38	31
Minutes	5,534	1,730	1,884
Goals	40	12	13
Minutes per goal	138	144	145
Assists	15	8	3
Goals – xG	-2.6	-0.6	+2.9
Big chances missed	44	15	5
Shot on target %	46.3%	49.4%	39.5%
Shots on target per 90	1.58	2.58	1.62
Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt, FBref.com and SofaScore

As the table outlines, Dessers has been far from useless for Rangers, averaging a marginally higher minutes-per-goal ratio than Danilo and Igamane, although more underlying statistics emphasise his struggles.

Since the start of last season, he has missed 44 Opta defined big chances, with the £27k-per-week star certainly not the most natural of finishers it must be said.

In this season’s UEFA Europa League, 670 different players have had at least one shot, with Dessers ranking second-bottom for goals – xG, his tally of -3 only usurped by compatriot Victor Osimhen, which isn’t too surprising considering the Galatasaray striker has attempted 25 more shots.

Mark Walker of the National believes Dessers to be a ‘flop’, while former Celtic striker Chris Sutton thinks now is the right time to sell the Nigerian, given that he’s now third-choice.

In January, despite the fact, reportedly, ten different clubs were interested in him, Dessers insists he “never wanted to leave”, adding he believes Rangers can achieve “something special” in the Europa League knockout stages.

However, come the end of the season, Rangers should certainly start listening to these offers for the centre-forward, because his relatively impressive goal-scoring figures will mean interest remains, and his market value won’t have dropped dramatically.

And so, while it remains to be seen if the 49ers would look to make a change in the dugout amid Clement’s precarious future, the incoming investors also need to drastically shake up the playing squad.