Emmanuel Dennis

Emmanuel Dennis

Dennis playing for Club Brugge in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis [1]
Date of birth	(1997-11-15) 15 November 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth	Yola, Nigeria
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Watford (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
Number	25
Youth career
2010–2016	Kwara Football Academy Ilorin
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	Zorya Luhansk	22	(6)
2017–2021	Club Brugge	85	(19)
2021	→ 1. FC Köln (loan)	9	(0)
2021–2022	Watford	35	(10)
2022–	Nottingham Forest	19	(2)
2023–2024	→ İstanbul Başakşehir (loan)	8	(0)
2024–	→ Watford (loan)	17	(4)
International career‡
2019	Nigeria U23	1	(0)
2019–	Nigeria	8	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:08, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis (born 15 November 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship club Watford, on loan from Nottingham Forest, and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Early career

Dennis began his career at Kwara Football Academy Ilorin, located in Kwara State, Nigeria. ^[2]

Zorya Luhansk

In March 2016, Dennis signed with Ukrainian Premier League club Zorya Luhansk. ^[3] He made his debut in a game against Olimpik Donetsk on 24 July 2016, where he scored the opener in a 3–0 victory. ^[4]

Dennis started the season on the bench mostly before being given his UEFA Europa League debut to Feyenoord on 3 November, which ended 1–1. After impressing against Feyenoord, he also played in the Ukrainian side's other group stage games, to Fenerbahçe and Manchester United. Zorya lost 2–0 in both matches and were eliminated from the group having finished in last place.

On 11 December, Dennis scored his second goal in a 2–0 win over Stal Kamianske. His performances attracted both Manchester City as well as an unknown Bundesliga side, who were interested in signing him in the winter transfer window. ^{[5] [6]} However, Dennis instead ended up staying with Zorya for the rest of the season, helping them to a third place in the league with his six goals in 22 league appearances.

Club Brugge

Club Brugge announced on 30 May 2017 that they had signed Dennis on a four-year-deal for a fee of €1.2 million. ^[7] He was given the number 42 jersey shirt. Dennis started the season extremely well, scoring five goals in six matches, including one on his debut on 26 July 2017 to İstanbul Başakşehir, a 3–3 draw and a brace three days later in the league over Lokeren, which finished in a 4–0 victory.

On 1 October 2019, Dennis scored twice in a 2–2 draw at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium against Real Madrid in the group stage of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League season. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

1. FC Köln

On 25 January 2021, Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln announced that they had signed Dennis on a loan deal until the end of the season. ^[11] He made a total of nine league appearances during his time in Germany.

Watford

On 21 June 2021, Watford confirmed they had reached an agreement with Club Brugge for the transfer of Dennis. ^[12] A five-year contract was signed two days later. ^[13] On 14 August, Dennis scored on his Watford debut in their league opener against Aston Villa, where Watford won 3–2. ^[14] Dennis was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for November 2021 ^[15] after scoring and grabbing two assists in a 4–1 thrashing of Manchester United ^[16] and scoring in a 4–2 defeat at Leicester City. ^[17]

Nottingham Forest

On 13 August 2022, Dennis signed with Premier League side Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed transfer fee. ^[18] The transfer fee was reported to be £10 million. ^[19]

On 15 September 2023, Dennis signed with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir on loan for the 2023–24 season. ^[20] On 22 January 2024, Nottingham Forest terminated his loan deal with Istanbul Basaksehir to facilitate a move back to former club Watford on loan. ^[21]

International career

Dennis represented Nigeria at under-23 level ^[2] before being called up to the senior team. He made his debut on 10 September 2019 in a 2–2 friendly draw to Ukraine, coming on as a 82nd-minute substitute for Samuel Chukwueze. ^[22]

The Nigeria Football Federation attempted to call Dennis up to the squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations however accused Watford of refusing to release Dennis and 'baring their fangs’, when, in fact NFF failed to ask for his release in time'. ^{[23] [24]} Dennis was part of the Nigerian squad that lost on away goals with an aggregate score-line of 1–1 to the Black Stars of Ghana in the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying. ^{[25] [26]}

Career statistics

Club

As of 27 April 2024 ^[27]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Zorya Luhansk	2016–17	Ukrainian Premier League	22	6	1	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 3]	0	26	6
Club Brugge	2017–18	Belgian Pro League	30	7	4	4	—		4 [lower-alpha 4]	1	38	12
	2018–19		26	7	1	0	—		5 [lower-alpha 5]	0	32	7
	2019–20		20	5	2	0	—		11 [lower-alpha 6]	4	33	9
	2020–21		9	0	0	0	—		4 [lower-alpha 7]	1	13	1
	Total		85	19	7	4	—		24	6	116	29
1. FC Köln (loan)	2020–21	Bundesliga	9	0	1	1	—		—		10	1
Watford	2021–22	Premier League	33	10	0	0	2	0	—		35	10
	2022–23	Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	Total		35	10	0	0	2	0	—		37	10
Nottingham Forest	2022–23	Premier League	19	2	1	0	5	0	—		25	2
	2023–24	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		19	2	1	0	5	0	0	0	25	2
İstanbul Başakşehir (loan)	2023–24	Süper Lig	8	0	0	0	—		—		8	0
Watford (loan)	2023–24	Championship	17	4	1	0	–		–		18	4
Total			195	41	11	5	7	0	27	6	240	52

1. Includes Ukrainian Cup, Belgian Cup, DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Ten appearances and three goals in UEFA Champions League, one appearance and one goal in UEFA Europa League
7. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 17 November 2022 ^[28]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2019	2	0
	2020	1	0
	2022	5	1
Total		8	1

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Emmanuel Dennis

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 June 2022	Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco	São Tomé and Príncipe	10–0	10–0	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Club Brugge

• Belgian First Division A: 2017–18, ^[29] 2019–20 ^[30]

References

1. "Updated squad lists for 2022/23 Premier League". Premier League. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
2. "Emmanuel Dennis beckoning on Gernot Rohr". This Day . 13 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
3. Michael, Rasheed. "Little known Nigerian striker Dennis turning heads at top Ukrainian club". owngoalnigeria.com. OwnGoal Nigeria. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
4. Ліга Парі-Матч. 1 тур. Матч № 6. 24 July 2016. fpl.ua (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Premier League official website. 24 July 2016. Archived from the original on 26 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
5. "Exclusive: Manchester City scout watches "Nigerian Neymar" Dennis in Ukraine". owngoalnigeria.com. OwnGoal Nigeria. 11 September 2016. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
6. "Top Bundesliga club plot transfer of $1.5 million-rated Zorya starlet Bonaventure". allnigeriasoccer.com. All Nigeria Soccer.
7. "Club Brugge sign top Nigerian talent Dennis Bonaventure". soccerassembly.com. Soccer Assembly. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
8. "Casemiro spares Real Madrid's blushes against Club Brugge". BT Sport . Press Association. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
9. Rouquet, Sylvain (1 October 2019). "Le FC Bruges frôle l'exploit et ramène un point du Real Madrid de Hazard et Courtois". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 2 October 2019.
10. Battison, Paul (1 October 2019). "Emmanuel Dennis: Club Bruges striker trolls Real Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo 'Siii' celebration". BBC Sport . Retrieved 2 October 2019.
11. "Perfekt: Dennis verstärkt Köln bis zum Saisonende". kicker.de. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
12. "Official: Dennis Deal Done". Watford F.C. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
13. "Official: Dennis Personal Terms Agreed". Watford F.C. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
14. Thomason, Ellie (14 August 2021). "Watford 3–2 Aston Villa". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
15. "Awards: Dennis Nominated For November PL Player of the Month". www.watfordfc.com. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
16. "Watford 4–1 Manchester United". BBC Sport. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
17. "Leicester 4–2 Watford". BBC Sport. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
18. "Emmanuel Dennis signs for Forest".
19. "Nottingham Forest transfer news: Dennis could leave". BBC Sport.
20. "Dennis makes loan departure". Nottingham Forest Football Club. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
21. "Nottingham Forest's Emmanuel Dennis to rejoin Watford on loan". The Athletic. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
22. "Ukraine v Nigeria match report". ESPN . 10 September 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
23. "Afcon 2021: Watford's Emmanuel Dennis and Victor Osimhen out of Nigeria squad". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
24. "Health concerns, injuries constrain changes to Nigeria's final 28-man list for AFCON 2021". www.thenff.com. 3 January 2022. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
25. Silas, Don (4 March 2022). "Nigeria vs Ghana: Super Eagles announce squad for 2022 World Cup qualifier [Full list]". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
26. "Tears, anger as Eagles lose World Cup ticket to Ghana". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
27. E. Dennis (Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis) at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
28. "Emmanuel Dennis profile". National Football Teams. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
29. "Brugge secure Belgian league title with draw at Standard Liège". Chicago Tribune . Associated Press. 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
30. "Dennis and Tau's Club Brugge declared Belgian champions". Goal. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.

External links

• Profile at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
• Emmanuel Dennis at FootballDatabase.eu
• Emmanuel Dennis – UEFA competition record ( archive )