With Oumar Niasse being released and Cenk Tosun available for sale this summer, Everton need a replacement striker. We’ve been linked with Odsonne Edouard, Patrik Schick, Hirving Lozano, Martin Braithwaite, Andrea Belotti, Sardar Azmoun and Victor Osimhen, but Emmanuel Dennis is the latest name to pop up on our radar.
Caught Offside say we’re still interested in the 22-year-old and may have to battle Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Inter Milan to procure his signature. Dennis has impressed at Club Brugge and looks destined from a move away, but it remains to be seen where the 22-year-old will end up.
Is Dennis good enough for us?
Possibly, as his goal output hasn’t been bad in Belgium. Dennis has made 104 appearances in all competitions since joining Brugge from Zorya Lugansk in 2017, scoring 28 times with 10 assists.
- 2017/18 (First Division A): 30 appearances, seven goals, four assists
- 2018/19 (First Division A): 26 appearances, seven goals
- 2019/20 (First Division A): 20 appearances, five goals
While versatile enough to play across the front three, Dennis is a right-footed forward who largely operates on the right for Brugge. That being said, he’s not afraid to cut inside to use his weaker foot and has fared well leading the line throguh the middle.
In addition to having pace and trickery to beat his opponent in a one-on-one, the 22-year-old has great distribution from out wide, frequently picking out a teammate from a cross while showing a good eye for goal when moved to centre-forward.
Dennis would certainly be an improvement on Niasse and Tosun, but he won’t come cheap this summer. Brugge are well aware of the interest in the Nigerian and want to be compensated handsomely if they have to let him go.
How much would he cost?
Brugge only paid £1.17m to sign Dennis, but Transferzone now value him at €8.5m while Transfermarkt say he’s worth £14.4m. Caught Offside believe it could take a bid of €40m (£36.1m) for Brugge to part company with Dennis, however, which would make him their most expensive departure (Wesley Moraes to Aston Villa for £22m).
In other news, talk of a contract extension is a remarkable turnaround for Everton’s £25.6m signing