“He made the difference” – Frank Wormuth confesses missing Super Eagles star’s goals

The Dutch tactician takes his Heracles side to De Kuip on Wednesday night and is looking forward to uniting with one of his former charges

Ahead of his reunion with forward Cyriel Dessers, Heracles manager Frank Wormuth has praised the Nigerian’s personality and ability in front of goal.

Dessers and Wormuth first worked together at Heracles during the 2019-2020 season, when the Super Eagles forward had a prolific campaign in front of goal.

The 26-year-old striker scored 15 goals to finish top of the Eredivisie goal scorer’s chart and earned a move to Genk last year.

Dessers did not fare particularly well in Belgium and returned to the Netherlands in the summer to join Feyenoord on a temporary deal. 

Heracles has also failed to replace the Super Eagles striker, with the Dutch side struggling in front of goal. This term, Heracles have managed just 14 goals in 13 league matches ahead of their league clash against Feyenoord.

And Wormuth admits Heracles misses Dessers, whose ability in front of goal is almost irreplaceable.

“He made the difference with his goals and assists. Dessers can also score goals on his own and out of nowhere,” the head coach told Tubantia.

“I miss Cyriel as a person and as a player. He’s smart, has an opinion, we’ve had a lot of interesting conversations together.”

Wormuth confesses that Heracles were among those who enquired about Dessers when it was clear that Genk had made the striker available for a loan spell.

But the Dutch side did not possess the financial strength to compete for his signature.

Wormuth added: “We also had some words, that was during the transfer period in the winter, he wanted to leave.

“But the club thought the amount was too low and did not let him go. This is a business; sorry, a player with a contract costs money.

Dessers has rediscovered his goalscoring touch, finding the back of the net eight times in 17 appearances with only one as a starter.