Leicester City has been linked with a move for Club Brugge Nigerian striker Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis. According to L’Equipe, Dennis is a winter window priority for Brendan Rodgers and discussions are already underway between City and Club Brugge.
Dennis would cost between €20m and €23 (£17m to £20m) and is a player City have been linked with before.
Back in August 2017, when Dennis was still a teenager, a City scout joined representatives from Manchester United and Manchester City at Club Brugge’s Europa League tie against AEK Athens, with Belgian media reporting that Dennis was the player being watched.
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Leicester quite often scout players for a few years, monitoring their progress, before making their move, as they did with right-back James Justin before signing him from Luton this summer.
In terms of Dennis’s profile, he fits the bill for City. He’s speedy and plays on the last man, much like Jamie Vardy, and while he is young and has scope to improve, he has racked up a fair amount of European experience, with 19 appearances in the Champions League or Europa League to his name already.
City like Belgium as a hunting ground too. They signed Wilfred Ndidi from Genk nearly three years ago, while Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet both underwent their developing years in the country.
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In all competitions, Dennis has six goals in 16 matches, with Brugge unbeaten in the league and sitting six points clear at the top of the table.
Across those 16 appearances, Dennis has only completed 90 minutes once.
Dennis was linked to both Sheffield United and Monaco in the summer but stuck with Club Brugge after being impressed by new manager Philippe Clement, who joined the club in the summer after winning the Belgian title with Genk last season.
“I like this coach (at Brugge),” he said last month.