A Rangers player has lifted the lid on the changing landscape of modern football.
Cyriel Dessers reckons lucrative sponsorship deals, in particular for boots, are becoming less frequent. But many of those who do receive such privileges, haven't earned the right to such contracts - something which has really baffled the Light Blues striker.
The 29-year-old has been at clubs in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy before joining Rangers under Michael Beale last summer.
Dessers has scored 22 times from 55 appearances for the Scottish giants - and began the opening William Hill Premiership game of the season as Rangers' main man up front on Saturday.
Read more:
- Rangers vs Dynamo Kyiv to be shown live on TV by BBC
- Michael Stewart suggests Rangers star could be 'a bit of a pr*ck'
"I did get shoes sent to me by Puma in the past few months, but I don’t know how long that will last,” the Rangers talisman told Het Nieuwsblad.
“I have been in contact with a few other brands, but I earn a decent living, so I wouldn’t have a problem buying my own shoes. That also gives you a bit more freedom.
"I find that strange in a way: I feel like I’m at the top of my career, I play for a top club in Scotland, I play in the quarter finals of a European cup, I’m with the Nigerian team and yet I seem to have a hard time getting a good deal.
"And in the meantime I see that young guys who have yet to make their professional debut do have a contract. To be clear, I don’t lose any sleep over that, but sometimes I don’t quite understand the logic.”
The Dutch outlet report that former Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen also dubbed boots contracts as "a growing issue for footballers since the Covid-19 pandemic."
Dressers revealed he had more lucrative perks earlier in his career, even though at that point, he was a lot further from the limelight than he is currently at Ibrox.
“I didn’t earn a huge amount and I still used about ten pairs of shoes per season," the Nigerian internationalist explained.
"When I really broke through at the end of the season, Nike and Adidas also came knocking and I signed my first contract with Nike. Then I didn’t just get shoes, but also a shopping budget. Then I was allowed to go to the big Nike store in Laakdal ten times per season.
Read more:
- Neil McCann 'very surprised' at Rangers decision to reward manager
- Philippe Clement makes telling Rangers 'squad not better' confession
"On top of that shopping budget, I also got serious discounts in the store. I always took a few friends with me who had a whole shopping list. Those were always really fun trips. After my contract with Nike, I had another one with Puma, but that ended this summer too.”
