The Nigeria Football Federation is confident Emmanuel Dennis will take part at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, despite comments from Watford manager Claudio Ranieri.
Watford are desperate to stop the versatile forward from going to Cameroon after they were notified of his inclusion in the squad late by the NFF.
Dennis scored his eighth goal of the campaign in Watford’s 4-1 defeat to West Ham United on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old’s participation at the AFCON would see him miss important games against relegation rivals Newcastle and Norwich.
Ranieri stated after Tuesday night”s defeat to West Ham United: I’m not so sure I’ll miss [Dennis] now, I don’t know if he goes.
“The national team has a time to send their precall, they don’t respect the days and I want to see very well.
“I know the email arrived late and I want to know everything. The national team has a time, during this time they have to send the precall, if they don’t send the precall, we can choose.”
However, the NFF were understood to be confused about Ranieri’s comments last night and sources closely situated explained to the Watford Observer that, as far as they are concerned, everything was done according to protocol.
It is their belief that clubs need to be notified five days in advance of individual matches and ten days in advance of a tournament, meaning they could have waited until December 30 to announce the striker’s inclusion and it would have still been above board.
A solution is still currently being discussed between the club and the NFF but the situation is expected to be resolved in the coming days, with club sources saying they are keen not to show any disrespect to national sides.
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