No buyers around for the Great Ibrox Fire Sale

Cyriel Dessers is reported to be a transfer target for Cagliari- four weeks after he was in advanced talks to join Greek side PAOK.

After losing five out of contract players at the end of May there has been no further movement out of Ibrox despite Phil Clement hoping to change the cycle of the squad.

Dessers is with the first team squad training in Holland alongside others such as James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Todd Cantwell, Ben Davies, Rabbi Matondo and others that the club is hoping to move on.

Last week it emerged that Cantwell’s agent had been contacting randoms on Instagram in an effort to get the former Norwich starlet off the wage bill.

Dessers was signed from Cagliari a year ago for £4.5m from Cremonese, with the striker turning 30 in December buyers seem thin on the ground.

Spinning it as a positive development the Daily Record reports:

Cagliari reportedly have a ‘hunger’ to sign Cyriel Dessers – but Rangers’ asking price for the frontman could prove an issue.

Dessers came in for plenty of flak for his performances and wastefulness in front of goal last season but 22 goals in 54 appearances was a creditable return for the £4.5million they paid to sign him from Cremonese. Philippe Clement though is in the midst of a youth-focused rebuild, and it’s believed he’s open to selling the 29-year-old if the club can recoup the fee they paid to sign him 12 months ago.

There’s been interest in the Nigerian and it seems like a return to Italy is the most likely destination if he does leave this summer. Tuttomercato say Cagliari have enquired – and been quoted a price of €5million (£4.2million). It’s noted that may be a little too hot to handle for the Serie A side, but there could be a compromise.

Yeah, like a £4.2m compromise in order to match the salary that Dessers is picking up with three years still to run on his ‘Ibrox’ deal.

Price tags are likely to be a recurring problem in offloading players with clubs unlikely to be willing to pay out a fee and match the current wages of the serial losers accumulated by four managers in under three years.

The reality is that sending players out on loan towards the end of the transfer window will be the only option for Clement, just as Micky Beale discovered a year ago with Romanian ace Ianis Hagi who is set to return to Murray Park next week with his agent unable to find another club for Gheorghe’s son.