It was the eccentric former Aberdeen boss Ebbe Skovdahl who warned us that statistics can be misleading when he famously said they are “like mini-skirts – they give you good ideas but hide the most important things”.
And Rangers fans will be hoping that is true certainly when it comes to one of their two Serie A targets. Michael Beale appears to be closing in on a double signing from Italy with a £3million deal for Atalanta’s Sam Lammers and Cremonese forward Cyriel Dessers looking like they could be heading for Ibrox.
Both suffered relegation from Serie A this season – Lammers was on loan to Sampdoria for the second half of the season – but having played for the two clubs holding up Italy’s top flight, will they be strong enough to make it at Rangers? Dutchman Lammers is the one where supporters appear to have the most reservations. And it comes back to the stats. The fact the 26-year-old netted just two goals – from an xG of 7.24 – in 34 games last season (one for Empoli in 14 matches where he started the season and another in 20 appearances for Sampdoria where he moved in January) isn’t filling fans with confidence.
At 6’ 3” it’s probably no surprise to see that his solitary goal for Sampdoria came from a header as he bulleted home from a cross from the left, ironically against Dessers’ Cremonese side as the men from Genoa went down to a 3-2 home defeat. Yet most of Lammers best work appears to be done outside of the box and he could prove perfect foil for someone such as Dessers as he can bring others into play.
For such a towering presence, he is comfortable with both feet and had a 53.3 per cent dribbling success rate and 56 per cent success in winning the ball back in the opposition half. An early scouting report when he was breaking through at PSV Eindhoven possibly highlights why his goals return is so poor. “His greatest strength is also his greatest weakness because his selflessness gives him opportunity to have greater influence on build-up play while he spends too little time in advantageous positions as a striker,” they said.
But there were high hopes from him when he was breaking through at the Philips Stadium where he was expected to challenge Luik De Jong for a first team place. His first full season in the Eredivisie was his best when he scored 16 goals plus five assists while on loan at Heerenveen.
He was prolific at youth level, where he moved to attack from midfield in his formative years, but still never made the grade in the PSV top team. Yet Atalanta were still willing to pay around £11m for his services. He has since had loan spells at Eintracht Frankfurt before Empoli and Sampdoria last season. The lack of goals at all of those clubs is the big concern but his unselfish nature could bring the best out in others.
And one of those players could be Dessers. What Lammers lacks in goals, Dessers makes up for – certainly in terms of his career. The Belgian-born Nigeria international’s return was only six goals last season, half of which came in the first month of the season while still at Genk before his move to Italy in August.
But he is much more prolific and averaged almost a goal every two games during a loan spell at Feyenoord from Genk. Although predominantly right footed, his goals compilation shows a variety of strikes – left foot, right foot, head. Beale needs goals from his attack next season with full back James Tavernier the leading scorer for the club.
A player in the mould of departing Alfredo Morelos in his peak and former Rangers star Sergio Porrini has no doubts that Dessers could be that man. "He can score more than 20 goals, I'm sure of that,” the Italian said at the weekend. “Fifteen goals would be the first target but, if he starts well, I wouldn't be surprised to see him score more than 20. He's the sort of player the fans will love. He's at the right age, has good experience and won't be fazed about replacing a player like Morelos. He's played in a number of good leagues and scored goals. He'll be confident in his ability."
