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Ranieri moves to stop Dennis from African Cup of Nations

By Guardian Nigeria
30 December 2021   |   3:31 am
Watford’s Manager, Claudio Ranieri, has said that the club have no obligation to release Super Eagles’ forward, Emmanuel Dennis, for the Cameroun 2022 African Cup of Nations, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Emmanuel Dennis celebrates after scoring Watford’s first goal during the Premier League match between Watford and Chelsea at Vicarage Road on December 01, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Claims Nigeria missed deadline to send invitation letter to club

Watford’s Manager, Claudio Ranieri, has said that the club have no obligation to release Super Eagles’ forward, Emmanuel Dennis, for the Cameroun 2022 African Cup of Nations, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Ranieri said Nigeria failed to send a ‘pre-call’ before a specific deadline, which, according to him, invalidates any right the country has on Dennis.

Dennis, 24, was named in Nigeria’s 28-man AFCON squad on Boxing Day and gushed over the news on Twitter, posting: ‘Proud to get a call up to represent my country.’

However, Ranieri has since cast doubt over his participation in the event, as he believes Watford have grounds to keep him after Nigeria failed to submit a ‘pre-call’ before a specific deadline.

“The email didn’t arrive at the right moment. The national team has a time to send a pre-call. They didn’t respect the days, and I want to see.”

Ranieri added: “The email arrived late. They have a time when they need to send a pre-call; if they don’t send it, we can choose.”

The Athletic are reporting that Watford insist they were not notified in time that Dennis, who has scored seven goals for Ranieri’s 17th-place side, was in consideration for a call-up from his country ahead of next month’s tournament.

As a result, it is believed they feel there is an option to prevent their star striker from jetting off to AFCON in the midst of their relegation battle.

He was due to meet up with the Nigeria squad after Watford’s Premier League clash with Tottenham on New Year’s Day, but that has now been thrown into doubt.

Sources close to the player have revealed that while he is still hoping to go, Dennis does not want to cause any issues with his current employers.

According to the Watford Observer, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) denies any wrongdoing and are still confident that Dennis will be involved next month.

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