Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis (born 15 November 1997) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Early career

Dennis began his career at Kwara Football Academy Ilorin, located in Kwara State, Nigeria.

Zorya Luhansk

In March 2016, Dennis signed with

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

club

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk was based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team currently plays its games at Slavutych-Arena in Zaporizhzhia. The modern club as a ...

. He made his debut in a game against

Olimpik Donetsk FC Olimpik Donetsk ( ) 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 promotion to Ukrainian Premier League in 2 ...

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 The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

debut to

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

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 United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. 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 City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

as well as an unknown

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

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 29,042. They pl ...

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 Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

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

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

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 Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

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 ...

season.

1. FC Köln

On 25 January 2021,

side

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

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 Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

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

debut in their league opener against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, where Watford won 3–2. Dennis was nominated for the

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 1 ...

award for November 2021 after scoring and creating two assists in a 4–1 win against

and scoring in a 4–2 defeat at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Nottingham Forest

On 13 August 2022, Dennis signed with Premier League side

for an undisclosed transfer fee. The transfer fee was reported to be £10 million. On 15 September 2023, Dennis signed with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir on loan for the 2023–24 season. On 22 January 2024, Nottingham Forest terminated his loan deal with Istanbul Basaksehir to facilitate a move back to former club Watford on loan.

Blackburn Rovers

On 3 February 2025, Dennis joined Championship side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a loan deal until the end of the season.

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 Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, coming on as a 82nd-minute substitute for

Samuel Chukwueze Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze (; born 22 May 1999) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), right winger for Serie A club AC Milan and the Nigeria national football team, Nigeria n ...

. The

Nigeria Football Federation The Nigeria Football Federation (known as Nigeria Football Association until 2008) is Nigeria's association football, football sports governing body, governing body. It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football ...

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 ass ...

, accusing Watford of refusing to release Dennis. However, the NFF had failed to ask for his release in time. 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 Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

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 () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2017–18, 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, Emmanuel 1997 births Living people Men's association football forwards Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Ukrainian Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Premier League players English Football League players Süper Lig players FC Zorya Luhansk players Club Brugge KV players 1. FC Köln players Watford F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey People from Adamawa State 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen