Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis (born 15 November 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Premier League club 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 Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the interna ...

Zorya Luhansk

In March 2016, Dennis signed with Ukrainian Premier League club Zorya Luhansk. He made his debut in a game against

Olimpik Donetsk FC Olimpik Donetsk ( uk, «Олімпік» Донецьк ) is a Ukrainian inactive football team based in Donetsk, Ukraine. The club currently doesn't play in any Ukrainian competition due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since its prom ...

on 24 July 2016, where he scored the opener in a 3–0 victory. 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 Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. 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 Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

as well as an unknown Bundesliga side, who were interested in signing him in the winter transfer window. 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 (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

announced on 30 May 2017 that they had signed Dennis on a four-year-deal for a fee of €1.2 million. 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 ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

, a 3–3 draw and a brace three days later in the league over

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

, 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 Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the group stage of the

2019–20 UEFA Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich d ...

season.

1. FC Köln

On 25 January 2021, Bundesliga side

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

announced that they had signed Dennis on a loan deal until the end of the season. 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. A five-year contract was signed two days later. On 14 August, Dennis scored on his Watford debut in their league opener against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, where Watford won 3–2. Dennis was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for November 2021 after scoring and grabbing two assists in a 4–1 thrashing of

and scoring in a 4–2 defeat at Leicester City.

Nottingham Forest

On 13 August 2022, Dennis signed with Premier League side Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed transfer fee. Chief scout Tom Burton from Hucknall, highly rated the Nigerian international.

International career

Dennis represented Nigeria at under-23 level 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. The Nigeria Football Federation attempted to call Dennis up to the squad for the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

however accused Watford of refusing to release Dennis and 'baring their fangs'. 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.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club Brugge *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: 2017–18, 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, Emmanuel 1997 births Living people Association football forwards Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Ukrainian Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Premier League players FC Zorya Luhansk players Club Brugge KV players 1. FC Köln players Watford F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England English Football League players