Cyriel Dessers has revealed that he would most likely have stayed back at Genk had fellow Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu left for a bigger club as widely predicted.
Dessers could not get into the Genk first team no thanks to the awesome form of Onuachu, but he said he believes he would have been able to compete with whoever replaced Onuachu.
“All summer I assumed that Paul would leave and that I would compete with his replacement for a starting spot. Ten days before the closing of the mercato I became nervous and realized that I had to take my destiny into my own hands,” he told HLN.
He said the real turning point was when he was an unused sub in a league game that Genk were winning comfortably.
“When I stayed on the bench for 90 minutes in the game against OHL even though it was already 3-0, I knew it was over. A few days before I had scored in Kiev against Shakhtar and I assumed that I would play against OHL again,” Dessers said.
“I reasoned: when Paul leaves I’m in top shape, I have the confidence. But instead I stayed on the bench for 90 minutes.
“Then I felt that it wasn’t right and that was the click for me to quickly look for a solution.”
Dessers is currently on a season-long loan at Feyenoord with option for the top Dutch club to buy outrightly at the end of the season.
