The signature of the summer? Emmanuel Dennis is one of the league’s most productive players and gives Watford hope of retaining

There are no surprises when it comes to the productivity of Premier League players – Mohamed Salah has already contributed to 24 goals and dominates this category. In second place, however, we find Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis. A player nobody would have expected to see there before the season.

Watford have changed their attack considerably since their promotion from the Championship. After 11 seasons, club legend Troy Deeney has left and Andre Gray and Isaac Success have also moved on. They have also brought in returnee Cucho Hernández and new signings Joshua King and Emmanuel Dennis.

And King and Dennis, in particular, have been on a roll. The Norwegian forward came as a free agent and has 5 goals so far. He destroyed Everton with a hat-trick, he also scored in the win against Manchester United and in the next round in the loss at Leicester.

Emmanuel Dennis has performed even better in his new position. The Nigerian striker drew attention to himself in the past with 2 goals at the Real Madrid stadium in the Champions League, when he helped Bruges to a 2-2 draw. He even copied Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic celebration after his second goal in front of the Madrid fans.

However, he didn’t score a single league goal in the 20/21 season and wasn’t expected to do great things after arriving at Watford for £3.5 million. Dennis did, however, score a goal in the very first round against Aston Villa and added an assist on top of that. But like his fellow forward Josh King, he didn’t make a proper start until the 9th round against Everton.

Then the Hornets won 5-2. Dennis didn’t take the field until the final half hour, but still managed to score one goal and assist two. In the 12th round, he did the same in the win over Manchester United. In the next 2 rounds he scored against Leicester and Chelsea, his streak was stopped by the Citizens defence.

However, in the very next game, the Hornets player scored a header against Brentford. It was no good for his team, as they scored twice in the end and it was their 4th loss in a row. Watford fans can at least be happy with Dennis’ form.

Seven goals and five assists make him the 2nd most productive player in the league. His good form also made us forget about the enforced absence of Ismaily Sarr, who was injured in the match against United. His role as a key player for the Hornets’ offense was taken by Dennis.

Among his teammates, he has the most shots (32), shots on target (17), and the most touches with the ball in the attacking third of the field (266) and in the opponent’s penalty area (68). He also dominates his team in terms of successful dribbles (23). 9 completed passes into the penalty area rank him 4th in this category, as well as 3 completed centres into the penalty area.

However, he is also important for his team when playing without the ball – 25 defensive tackles is the 2nd best performance in the team. Pressing is very important for Ranieri’s style and Dennis is a key player in this category as well. During the season he pressed 275 times (the most of the team), 61 of them successfully, which is enough for 3rd place.

It is no wonder that other Premier League teams are already interested in him, namely Arsenal and Manchester United. However, his departure in January is almost out of the question, Watford are unlikely to get rid of a player who is supposed to be the key to staying in the Premier League. However, if Dennis maintains his form, there will undoubtedly be far more interest in him in the summer.

Source: Whoscored