Prodigal Clubb Brugge Striker Faces Set-Back
Nigerian forward, Emmanuel Dennis, has plummeted from grace since his Champions League heroics against Real Madrid in 2019 when he scored two and assisted another in two fixtures against the Galacticos.
He then further enhanced his reputation when he scored to hold Manchester United in the Europa League in February 2020. This rich vein of form catapulted his market value on Transfermarkt to €17 million, the second highest in the Belgian division.
Following this, he requested a move from Brugge in search of a “new challenge” at higher level but it was his ignoble attitude on and off the pitch that sabotaged his career.
On the pitch, he was accused of sulking, not exerting himself and not playing with the team. Off-field, he was indicted of selecting games to play as well as influencing the squad negatively.
Former Club Brugge assistant coach, Rudi Cossey, who has worked with Dennis, described him as “erratic and difficult to manage”.
He had numerous suitors in the summer of 2020including Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen, Sheffield United, Leeds, Inter Milan and Atalanta, but all were out off by Brugge’s heavy price tag of over €25million.
After being given time to trash out a deal, in the excuse of injury, he failed to transact any positive contract with any of the aforementioned clubs.
Brugge who had axed him from their squad had to reintegrate him back to save his market value. It has been a downward spiral since, as the 23-year-old has scored only 1 goal in 13 games in all competitions this campaign.
He has missed 11 of Club Brugge’s 20league games this season, failing to feature in the last 5.
On Transfermarkt, the player has lost €6 million in valuation with the Blue-Blacks also conceding defeat in their attempt to pocket €25million from his sale, and have dropped his transfer value to just €8 million.
This discount doesn’t seem to have attracted suitors as only Germany’s Herta Berlin and China’s Shangai SIPG have shown concrete interest, but Dennis is not keen on leaving Europe.
Herta are expected to make a bid in the coming days and Brugge coach, Philippe Clement have ruled the player with another injury, a toe inflammation, suggesting he might never play again for Club.
“Dennis had a problem with his toe during his vacation. It was visibly inflamed, which prevents him from kicking a ball,” said Clement
“Whether we will see him again? We will have to wait and see. As long as he is here, we will try to get the most out of him. We will see if there is a bid that will satisfy both he and Club Brugge.”
