After falling out of favour with the top hierarchy at Club Brugge, succor arrived from Germany, with Bundesliga strugglers FC Cologne needing a striker to help them out of relegation. But with two rounds of matches left to play in the German Bundesliga, The Billy Goats have decided that Emmanuel Dennis would no longer be part of their plans, while the Blue-Black have stated the Nigerian is no longer in their future plans
With two rounds of matches left to play in the German Bundesliga, FC Cologne have decided that Emmanuel Dennis would no longer be part of their plans as the club try to avoid relegation to the lower tier.
Dennis has not been called up to the club’s quarantine training camp, which opened on Wednesday evening.
According to the Geiss Blog, Cologne will stay in isolation at the Schlosshotel in Bensberg until their last home game of the season against FC Schalke 04 but without one of their Nigerian imports.
Youngster Tolu Arokodare made the team despite not scoring a league goal since joining the Billy Goats on loan last season.
But it is Dennis, who was loaned from Club Brugge for 1.2 million euros in January, who has been the bigger flop.
The 23-year-old Nigerian winger-cum-striker left Belgium after falling out with Brugge manager Philippe Clement, but he has failed to convince in Germany.
Dennis had a promising start to life in the Bundesliga, featuring prominently in the club’s wins against Arminia Bielefeld (3-1) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (1-2).
But he could only manage one assist after his first seven league matches, and the problems began.
And after a silly mistake that saw him lose possession after attempting a dribble in the closing stages with Cologne trailing 2-1 at Union Berlin in mid-March, the Nigerian forward was left out of the squad that faced Borussia Dortmund and FSV Mainz 05.
Dennis was restored to the starting lineup by new boss Friedhelm Funkel in mid-April, but Cologne still fell 3-0 to Bayer Leverkusen.
And the manager may not have been impressed with Dennis as the Super Eagle did not get off the bench in the subsequent victories over RB Leipzig (2-1) and FC Augsburg (2-3).
Last Sunday, for the vital game against SC Freiburg, Dennis did not even make the matchday squad.
But it appears Dennis’ time in Cologne is now done with the Nigerian not joining the team in preparing for the final two Bundesliga games of the campaign.
Cologne sit second from the bottom and need to claim the remaining six points to stand any chance of avoiding the drop.
He was once the golden boy of the Jan Breydel Stadium, but this season has however been tough for him. Goals had been hard to come by for Emmanuel Dennis as he failed to find the net in nine league starts. With a move to German Bundesliga side, Cologne, the story remains the same.
The Super Eagles winger will link up with his compatriots Kingsley Ehizibue and Tolu Arokodare at the RheinEnergieStadion.
The forward has only made 13 appearances across all competitions for Club Brugge this season, scoring one goal and providing three assists.
Dennis was punished in November when he was axed from their Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund for misconduct.
The forward left the team bus in anger after he was denied his preferred seating position and Dennis admitted the first half of the season has been difficult for him.
Upon the conclusion of the deal, Cologne managing director Horst Heldt highlighted some of the qualities of the Nigeria international that made the club recruit him.
“Emmanuel is a quick player, who can play through the middle as a striker as well as on the wings. His finishing ability last season saw him gain the interest of many top clubs,” Heldt said.
Dennis has been with Club Brugge since the summer of 2017 when he teamed up with the side from Zorya Luhansk.
The forward made more than 90 appearances across all competitions for Club Brugge and delivered eye-catching performances in domestic competitions and the Champions League.
In the 2017-18 season, he featured prominently as the Black and Blue won the First Division A title and also helped the club finished as runner-up in the 2018-19 campaign.
Dennis has explained why he had to leave Belgian Pro League champions Club Brugge.
The Yola-born player had left the team bus in anger after he was denied his preferred seating position and he has since reflected on the last six months.
“The last six months were not easy for me,” Dennis told Cologne official website then.
Meanwhile, Brugge may have finally shut the door against Dennis returning after his loan spell in Germany, just as several reports suggest Serie A side Atalanta have renewed interest to sign the forward.
Club Brugge coach Philippe Clement has ruled out Dennis from returning to the club after his many troubles there.
Reports however said that despite failing to impress on loan at Bundesliga outfit FC Cologne, Italian club Atalanta are still interested in signing the Nigeria ace.
At a time last season, Atalanta were front runners to even sign the player.
The question now is how much will Club Brugge accept as transfer fee after they had initially hoped for as much as 25 million Euros for the former FC Zorya star.
Interestingly, German football journalist Daniel Pinder shared his thoughts on the possibility of Leeds United signing Dennis during the upcoming summer transfer window.
Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Pinder had this to say about the possibility of Dennis moving to the Yorkshire club, who he has been linked with in the past.
He said: “He definitely offers something different to Leeds striker, Patrick Bamford as he plays on the shoulder of defenders, and if the defence is playing a high line, then he’ll happily make runs in behind them.
“Bielsa likes his strikers to press from the front and Dennis does this well and he’s shown some good finishes during his time with Club Brugge, so I think Leeds could be a decent fit for him.”
