West Ham said to be losing interest in signing Dennis amid fears that he may be disruptive

ENGLISH Premier League side West Ham are believed to have lost interest in signing Super Eagles striker Emmanuel Dennis from Watford before the end closing of the summer transfer window amid fears that he may be a disruptive influence in the dressing room.

West Ham United had set their sights on Dennis with a view to purchasing from relegated Watford during the current transfer window. Dennis, 24, joined Watford at the beginning of last season from Belgian side Club Brugge and has been one of the revelations of the campaign, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances.

With Watford now relegated and playing in the Championship, the second tier of English football, big clubs were lining to sign Dennis about a month ago. Having a relegation clause in his contract, Dennis was sought by the likes of Brentford, Crystal Palace West Ham, Leeds and Aston Villa after Watford went down.

West Ham had been favourites to sign him but now, it appears that the Hammers are having second thoughts amid fears that the striker may be a disruptive. According to for Spits player and football analyst Alex Crook, Dennis, 24, had long been a target for the Hammers as they searched far and wide for a new attacker before eventually settling on Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo.

According to Mr Crooks, West Ham are still in the window for a winger but the club has stopped its attempts to sign Dennis. Despite scoring 10 goals for the Hornets in their relegation campaign last term, Dennis’ character has been brought into question by the West Ham recruitment team.

Mr Crooks added: “Now they’ve got Scamacca, I wonder if they’ve done some background checks on him because, from what I’m told, maybe he’s not necessarily the type of character that David Moyes wants to bring into the dressing room.”

Scamacca’s arrival also greatly reduces the immediate need to sign another striker even if they can play out wide because Michail Antonio can do too.  Dennis did play the entire 90 minutes for Watford as they beat Sheffield United 1-0 at Vicarage Road to kick-start their Championship campaign.