Watford of England striker, Emmnauel Dennis Bonaventure has been described as a very honest and highly disciplined star, who will not allow his status get to his head nor would he snub anybody on account of his rising stock, sportsdayonline.com reports.
This verdict about the former Zorya of Ukraine, Club Brugge of Belgium and FC Colgone of Germany hitman is coming from one his close confidents and agent, Drew Uyi, who insists Bonaventure is not as fiery as observers are wont to believe.
This is in contrast with conclusions reached by many Nigerian football fans, who frowned at how Bonaventure got involved in a spat on the Club Bugge bus before one of their continental matches and ended up being suspended by the club.
In similar face-off caused him negative news a year later during his time on loan from Brugge at Cologne, with that incident arising almost at the same time belated reports indicated how the former under-23 national team, Olympic Eagles’ invitee got a driving ban before leaving Belgium.
Not too long, despite now hogging all headlines with his recent burst of goals, Bonaventure got a game’s suspension for accumulated cards in the English Premier League, thereby leaving Nigerians wondering about his level of discipline, but Uyi insists his pal is a gentleman on and off the pitch.
The agent’s declaration comes at a point Nigerian football followers are wondering if Bonaventure would be called to the Super Eagles’ camp for preparations ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts January 9 in Cameroon, as he has not played since getting his debut against Sierra Leone in November 2020.
It is being speculated that indiscipline might be the factor undermining Bonaventure’s invitations to the Eagles, as he is said to have been in confrontation with some senior players during his previous time in the national camp.
Those conjectures have, however, been doused by Uyi, who insists that his pal is a disciplined person and fully focused on giving the best he can for either club or country, though the agent also admitted that the in-form forward could sometimes be outspoken.
Bonaventure’s close associate, who has also worked with several other Nigeria stars, admitted that the forward was frustrated in his last season at Brugge, after the Belgian club’s officials put up a price tag of 25m pounds on his head, to scare interested clubs away.
He gave an instance of how gentlemanly Bonaventure can be, as the star once bought several VIP tickets for the entry of many fans to a concert by Nigerian pop icon, Wizkid in London, but the player did not join them because he anted to focus on Watford’s game against Chelsea.
Uyi further told The Football Show on YouTube: “Dennis is not snub, he’s not rude. He is a very disciplined guy as he spent part of his life in the military barracks, he is so straight forward because he tries to tell you the truth.”
