Emmanuel Dennis

Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis (born 15 November 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln on loan from Club Brugge, and the Nigeria national team.

Emmanuel Dennis
Dennis with Club Brugge in 2019
Personal information
Full name Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis
Date of birth (1997-11-15) 15 November 1997
Place of birth Yola, Nigeria
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 1. FC Köln (on loan from Club Brugge)
Number 43
Youth career
2010–2016 Accademia di Abuja
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Zorya Luhansk 22 (6)
2017– Club Brugge 85 (19)
2021– → 1. FC Köln (loan) 2 (0)
National team‡
Nigeria U15 ? (?)
2019– Nigeria U23 1 (0)
2019– Nigeria 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:32, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2019

Club career

Early career

Dennis began his career at Accademia di Abuja, located in Abuja.[1]

Zorya Luhansk

In March 2016, Dennis signed with Ukrainian Premier League club Zorya Luhansk.[2] He made his debut in a game against Olimpik Donetsk on 24 July 2016, where he scored the opener in a 3–0 victory.[3]

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 ended up losing 2–0 in both matches and ending up getting eliminated from the group after finishing last in their group.

On 11 December, Dennis scored his first 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.[4][5] 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.[6] 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.[7][8][9]

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.[10]

International career

Dennis has represented Nigeria on under-15 and under-23 level.[1]

Dennis made his debut for the senior team on 10 September 2019 in a 2–2 friendly draw to Ukraine, coming on as a 82nd-minute substitute for Samuel Chukwueze.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 26 December 2019[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Zorya Luhansk 2016–17 Ukrainian Premier League 22610—3[lower-alpha 2]0—266
Club Brugge 2017–18 Belgian First Division A 30744—4[lower-alpha 3]1—3812
2018–19 26710—5[lower-alpha 4]0—327
2019–20 15510—10[lower-alpha 5]3—258
Total 711964—194—9627
Total 932574—224—12233
  1. Includes the Ukrainian Cup and the Belgian Cup
  2. Three appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. Two appearances and one goal in the UEFA Champions League and two appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  4. Three appearances in the UEFA Champions League and two appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  5. Six appearances and three goals in the UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 13 October 2019[13]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 201920
Total20

Honours

Club Brugge

References
  1. "Emmanuel Dennis beckoning on Gernot Rohr". This Day. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. "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.
  5. "Top Bundesliga club plot transfer of $1.5 million-rated Zorya starlet Bonaventure". allnigeriasoccer.com. All Nigeria Soccer.
  6. "Club Brugge sign top Nigerian talent Dennis Bonaventure". soccerassembly.com. Soccer Assembly. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  7. "Casemiro spares Real Madrid's blushes against Club Brugge". BT Sport. Press Association. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  8. 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.
  9. Battison, Paul (1 October 2019). "Emmanuel Dennis: Club Bruges striker trolls Real Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo 'Siii' celebration". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  10. "Perfekt: Dennis verstärkt Köln bis zum Saisonende". kicker.de. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  11. "Ukraine v Nigeria match report". ESPN. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  12. E. Dennis (Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis) at Soccerway. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  13. "Emmanuel Dennis profile". National Football Teams. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  14. "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.
  15. "Racing Genk wins Belgian league title". Euronews. Reuters. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
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