This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Nottingham Forest have lodged an opening bid for Watford forward Emmanuel Dennis.
According to The Athletic, the Premier League outfit have made an offer worth up to £20 million.
Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on if this is an offer that the Hornets should accept given the importance of the Nigerian to Rob Edwards’ squad…
Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson
Considering that Watford signed Dennis for somewhere between £3-4 million pounds last summer, it's a good deal for the Hornets.
As fun as it has been for Watford fans to watch the Nigerian in the Championship for their opening two matches, everybody at Vicarage Road accepted it was highly likely he would depart as the transfer deadline neared.
Forest clearly need attacking power and given Dennis' 16 direct goal contributions in the top-flight last season, they are getting a player that has proven he can be effective in the Premier League - something you cannot necessarily say about their other signings.
With Dennis wanting to play his football in the top-flight, this is a deal that is mutually beneficial for both clubs.
The 24-year-old will hope, though, that he does not find himself back in the same situation next summer.
Declan Harte
A fee of £20 million would be a decent chunk of change for Watford to accept, but Dennis has been a vitally important part of the team in his 12 months at the club.
While it would represent a huge profit from the meagre sum paid to sign the player last summer, there is a feeling the club could extract more in negotiations with Forest.
The newly promoted club have poured money into getting the squad ready for the Premier League season, but there is still a desire to sign a big name forward.
Dennis would be a great fit for the role having excelled in the top flight last season, scoring 10 and assisting six goals.
At this price, Forest would be quite happy to complete a deal, but Watford should be looking to find another £5-10 million in any possible agreement in order to properly recognise his status in the squad.
George Dagless
I think so.
That's probably about the right amount of money for Dennis in the sense that he is a good player but obviously still has more to do to become a real Premier League fixture.
I think he's worth the punt and I think Steve Cooper could get a decent tune out of him but at the same time I think Watford would be happy enough with this kind of figure, which they can use wisely.
Dennis is a good player that showed decent flashes last season, and Forest will want plenty more of those if he arrives.