Get in. Incredible signing. I love the guy. Understand Watford have agreed on deal to sign Emmanuel Dennis from Istanbul Basaksehir! Surprise return agreed on loan until June as he accepted to take 70% pay cut to return and help Watford. Medical booked on Tuesday.
A real statement of intent and says to me we fancy solidifying a playoff place. Well done to all involved. Great stuff!
If he wants to be at the club then that's a boon and a half. If the 70% is true then that's clear and on the face of it, exactly the profile of player we have been missing up front who has pace and can finish reasonably reliably. This is not the whole answer to our squad's problems but it is a significant piece in place we did not expect and I am increasingly excited by this. An RB, CDM and another winger at bare minium is a must before I would say we have 2x players for each position. GK: Bachmann, Hamer RB: Andrews, Ngakia (Unfortunately VI has ruled out RB this window) RCB: Porteous, Sierralta LCB: Hoedt, Pollock (Would prefer left footed CB here) LB: Lewis, Morris CDM: Livermore (New signing needed) LCM: Koné, Kayembé RCM: Chavketadze, Dele-Bashiru LW: Sema, Dennis ST: Dennis, Bayo, Rajovic RW: Asprilla, Hurtado (New signing needed)
He managed to get 10 goals for us before without any service tbf, created most of them himself from scratch
******* brilliant, over the moon with this, play-offs guaranteed! I bet Aspirlla and Martins are looking forward to having someone half-decent in the area.
This is absolutely mad - why would he agree to this. He could be in the argument for the best player in the division if his head is right. How.
Intriguing. From a playing perspective I think he’s a perfect fit. I was also told on good authority that he was very unpopular - so the story when that came out in the press wasn’t a surprise. A gamble to bring him in. He will score goals, but also risks upsetting the camp.
70% wage reduction, different profile attacker and Forest have agreed the fee to just be we pro-rata down a payment we are owed by them already. A very, very unusual piece of superb financial business. Suspect Mogi's prints are on the deal...the pay cut will surely be what has made Ismael agree to the deal as it shows willing, given he was quoted as turning Dennis down in the summer. Or the transfer has been forced upon him....
I always find this very strange (not on your behalf)...as I (and others) have been told the opposite and that we was actually popular and others caused issues well before him. I suspect hes a challenging character that half liked, half didn't. But there was never any doubt (for me) that he just wanted to win and had high standards. If it's true he's approached us about returning and taking the payout, then it shows willing many players don't have. And indicates he was happy here. I'm personally ecstatic about the deal.
Exactly the type of forward we need, but I'll be honest, I'm not totally enamoured by the signing for obvious reasons. From his social media, it seems he's always had an affection for us since leaving, I hope the wage cut is a sign he's willing to be a team player and not spoil the growing atmosphere at the club (though I suppose if he is completely toxic we'll just let him go in the summer)
Makes sense tbf, failed at his last 2 clubs. Going back to one of the only clubs he's succeeded at makes sense for all parties - if he does well then it might mean Forest get a better price for him if they sell in the summer and finally gets his career back on track and stops him falling into obscurity
Absolutely, it’s about perception. You are aware of the chat I had with somebody once where I got all the goings on at the training ground, and the perception of Holebas from some is that he was a nutter…others perceived him as an out and out winner but an acquired taste from a personality perspective. Depends who you ask. Dennis is an incredible signing for on the pitch.
Wow, incredible stuff. What a signing, when he's in the mood he's unplayable. Ismael could be the man to get the best out of him if he buys into the team spirit at the club.
I was ecstatic when I saw this news. To be honest I never really completely bought into the whole attitude thing. It was hardly like the rest of the squad had a fantastic attitude, they were mostly a bunch of wimps that didn’t put in the required effort. I always got the impression that Dennis had higher standards than others who seemingly didn’t care.
He knew where the back of the net was and was a good player. Whether or not the off-field rumours were true, hopefully that is behind him now and if he does return I would expect him to slot in to VI's system pretty well. Possible one for a "two up top" maybe? When he left the club he followed Watford religously on social media and posted some images of himself watching our games. Obviously feels a connection despite his short time here. Of all the players' we had in that rancid squad, Dennis, Sema and Pedro seemed at least try. One ex-player I would glady take back if he is willing to put a shift in.
I think it’s terrific news and I can’t see any point in looking for hidden agendas or truths v untruths. The main thing is our top scorer in our last PL season wants to come back, and is coming back! And he’s coming into a squad full of good characters and hard-workers but maybe lacking in high quality and skill sets. We all know he can bring that to us. A first signing back for Nani and a player who has now been signed by both of our last two Technical Directors . In effect we’ve swapped Healey for Dennis this window. Not bad!
