'He wanted to help Watford' - Ranieri on withdrawal of Dennis from Nigeria's AFCON squad

Watford manager Claudio Ranieri has claimed that Emmanuel Dennis was in two minds whether or not to link up with his international teammates at their training camp in Abuja ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Nigeria Football Federation have decided to scratch out his name from the list of roster invitees following talks with the leadership of Watford, replacing him on the roster with Slavia Prague star Peter Olayinka.

Ranieri earlier insisted that Dennis was not going to be released to the Nigeria Football Federation due to a discrepancy in the timing of Nigeria's announcement of his selection - something which was disputed by a top NFF official and didn't make sense considering that all invitation letters were sent about the same time.

Watford and the Nigerian Federation have now reached a common ground that would see William Troost-Ekong head to Cameroon for the AFCON while the club's standout player so far this season Dennis would be staying back in Hertfordshire.

Speaking to reporters at Friday's press conference before the visit of Tottenham Hotspur, Ranieri said : "I knew they were speaking the board and Nigerian board and I accept every decision they find, for me it’s finished.

"They have a lot of players and they changed the manager and they changed everything. We were ready to give them the players, but they didn't do this.

"The two boards spoke and for me it’s okay, I’m only the coach and I accept everything.

"Now I spoke with him, of course he wanted to go to play, but also he wanted to help Watford."

The Italian football tactician has insisted that Watford were not being disrespectful towards the Africa Cup of Nations.

"No. We respect everybody,"  Ranieri briefly stated.

Dennis has been directly involved in ten goals in his last eight Premier League games for the Hornets (six goals, four assists), having a hand in 66.7 percent of the goals Watford have scored in these games.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : watfordfc.com