FC Cologne of Germany striker, Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure could become he next Nigerian player to join Fenerbahçe of Turkey, should a deal between the Turkish Super Lig outfit and his parent team, Club Brugge of Belgium see light of the day, megasportsarena.com reports.
Thus is sequel to a report linking him with a move to the Istanbul-based Yellow Canaries, who have paid the wages of not less than five Nigerian players in the past, and they now appear ready to accept an exchange deal between Bonaventure and Tanzania’s Ally Samatta.
The deal would see Samatta, who has five goals in 25 Lig appearances, move to Brugge in place of Bonaventure, who still has a year left on his contract with the Belgian top-flight outfit, but he is not willing to return there after his current loan spell ends with Cologne in the German Bundesliga.
Bonaventure is not keen on rejoining the Belgian champions, where several controversies hit him before making the move to Cologne, while Samatta is on a season-long loan at Fenerbahçe, who are obliged to buy the Tanzania captain for six million Euro.
However, a report by Fotomac has indicated that Fernebahce are ready to exchange Samatta for Bonaventure, who will now take after Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Okechukwu Uche, Emmanuel Emenike, Michael Eneramo, Joseph Yobo and Victor Moses as the next Nigerian at The Yellow Canaries.
That would turn out to be a huge relief for the 23-year-old striker, who played nine matches for Brugge in the Belgian Pro League this season and, though he failed to score a single goal in the domestic title race, the former under-23 international got on from four matches in the UEFA Champions League.
The Yola-born player, whose deal at Cologne runs until the end of this season, was punished by Brugge in November 2020 for an act of indiscipline just before their Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund of Germany.
He left the team’s bus in anger after he was denied his preferred seating position and news soon emerged that he had also fallen foul of driving regulations in Belgium, such that a return to that same country appears out of place for him, and Bonaventure admits he would rather not.
Bonaventure told Cologne’s official website: “The last six months were not easy for me. I want to play and score goals, and therefore I wanted to make a move in the current transfer window.
“I am pleased that I’m now at FC. I know what the sporting situation at FC is – therefore I want to play my part in keeping us in the league, by playing and scoring in a top league.”
