Watford are nine points adrift of safety in the Premier League with just five games left to play, it is almost certain that the club will make an immediate return to the English Championship.
And of course with relegation comes an exodus of players (well, the good ones at least), chief of which is expected to be Nigerian striker Emmanuel Dennis.
But it appears the Nigerian will not stay beyond the first of the five years he signed at the club simply because he is currently too good to play in the English second division.
Dennis has scored 10 goals and assisted six in 31 games so far this season which admittedly does not seem like much at first glance but is about as well as anyone could play in this poor Watford team.
His 16 goals and assists account for just over 50% of Watford’s total Premier League goals so far with the entire team only managing 31 goals in 33 games.
Perhaps Dennis’ abilities have been amplified by the general lack of quality surrounding him but the truth is he has done enough to have options when the summer transfer window opens.
It is unclear where he will end up which is kind of the point of this article, to map out realistic destinations for Dennis based on his abilities and the needs of the current Premier League teams.
Emmanuel Dennis can play anywhere across a standard front three and is blessed with pace and trickery which sees him suited to many mid-table and even some of the top six teams.
If he is to stay in England, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are clearly not seemingly possible destinations right now simply because they have better players than him.
Arsenal and Tottenham are the ‘top six’ teams who could do with Dennis’ services, in fact, one might say Arsenal are in dire need of him.
The Gunners are left with Alex Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as their current centre forward options, two players who will be out of contract at the end of the season and are quite frankly not good enough.
Tottenham also offers a fit for Dennis as they have many players with similar profiles to his and he could either slot into the first team or be the perfect Harry Kane backup which Spurs have tried and failed to find.
It is also worth mentioning that Dennis’ 10 league goals this season have been scored 7.33 xG which tells of his ability to score half chances and also the lack of creativity in the Watford team.
Imagine how much more Bonaventure could achieve on a top team that creates lots of chances, the 24-year old could enter his prime magnificently.
West Ham have been linked with Dennis as well, currently seventh in the league and are in a European semifinal, which would be a decent destination for the Nigerian.
Beyond those teams, Leicester City and the recently affluent Newcastle are the only other acceptable Premier League destinations, anything else would be a step-down.
Dennis is at a critical point in his career and it would not exactly do him much good to play on another bad team. He needs to sign for a top team even if he has to step out of England to achieve that, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid are among the top clubs that have been mentioned in relation to him.