Everton dodged a bullet by not signing Club Brugge forward Emmanuel Dennis this summer, after the Toffees emerged as one of several top European clubs said to be battling it out to land the Nigeria international’s services.

What’s the word?

According to CaughtOffside, the Goodison Park natives strove to bolster Carlo Ancelotti’s offensive weaponry this year with a raid on the Belgian top-flight for Dennis after he struck nine goals in 33 games across all competitions last season.

Dennis stole the headlines at the Santiago Bernabeu in October 2019 after his brace saw Brugge earn a shock 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the Champions League Group Stage, as Philippe Clement‘s side went on to end the round winless.

Brugge continued their European adventures in the Europa League but fell at the first hurdle when matched with Manchester United in the intermediate stage, losing 5-0 without Dennis in the second-leg as the 22-year-old was forced to sit out through an ankle injury.

The forward’s versatility and expected future accomplishments saw that Dennis was eventually courted by an array of clubs this summer, including Arsenal, Leeds United and Everton plus Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Inter Milan.

Manchester United were also monitoring the two-time international’s availability at one stage, but cooled their interest whilst Brugge rebuffed several offers from around Europe as they held firm in their €40million (£36.1m) asking price.

Everton would have faced a major obstacle in acquiring Dennis, too, as the centre-forward’s preference was to join a Champions League outfit, yet appear to have dodged a bullet by his struggles in the 2020/21 campaign thus far.

Lucky escape

Dennis has previously been heralded by former Nigeria international and 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner Sunday Oliseh for his imposing presence at the top of the Brugge attack, with the 46-year-old noting on Twitter: “He is extremely talented, fast, technical, strong and scores goals!”

Goals have not been easy to come by in the current campaign however, as Dennis has managed to strike just once in eight appearances across all competitions, coming in a 2-1 Champions League Group Stage victory over Zenit St. Petersburg earlier this month.

Brugge boss Clement has even been open to benching the Nigeria attacker for Jupiler Pro League fixtures, too, with Dennis missing four of a possible 10 matches and left to watch on as an unused substitute whilst his teammates succumbed to a 2-1 loss at Oud-Heverlee Leuven last Saturday.

It was the second time this season that Clement has not seen reason to utilise Dennis’ talents when Brugge are trailing in league games this term, giving Everton plenty of reasons why they should be glad they opted against pursuing a deal for the 22-year-old.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti must take care as a £40.6m ace once dubbed a “weak-link” is wanted at Everton.