Reports: Agreement in place for Anderlecht to extend Onyekuru loan

Thursday, 3 May, 2018 42comments  |  Jump to most recent
Everton have reportedly agreed to let Henry Onyekuru stay in Belgium for another year on loan at RSC Anderlecht but the player is apparently undecided.

The Belgian club are keen to extend Onyekuru's spell after his promising loan was interrupted by a serious injury. He has made 19 appearances and scored nine goals and recently completed his recovery from the knee problem that sidelined him for months this season.

The Nigerian striker, now 20, was signed by Everton for £8m last summer and immediately loaned to Anderlecht to further his development and to enable him to earn enough international caps to enable him to get a work permit to play in the Premier League.

He is hopeful of making Nigeria's World Cup squad for this summer's tournament in Russia and, should he do so, will feel that he has a better chance of proving himself in the English Premier League with Everton.

He is also said to be stalling until he knows whether Anderlecht will qualify for next season's Champions League.  



Reader Comments (42)

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John Graham
1 Posted 03/05/2018 at 09:33:48
Great...

Let's just buy lots of players, then loan them out (paying their wages) and then sell them on.

Not a chance of him ever pulling on an Everton shirt.

Bob Parrington
2 Posted 03/05/2018 at 09:50:08
This appears to be counter-sensory. Why would we make such decisions with just 2 games to go in this season, with doubts over the management for next season and and hence no need to change any such contracts until the closed season period?

Does anybody else sniff smelly media work on this?

Brian Williams
3 Posted 03/05/2018 at 09:55:37
Think it could be down to work permit issues. Don't think he'd qualify for one for next season, could be wrong, so it makes sense for him to stay there.
Rob Dolby
4 Posted 03/05/2018 at 10:52:40
Anderson de Silva anyone!
Justin Doone
5 Posted 03/05/2018 at 11:06:45
Probably all of the below.
Work permit issues, he wants to play champions league football, doesn't fancy Everton and or Sam football, Sam is staying and doesn't want him.

I know very little about him but IF he's going to get games and good experience with Anderlecht then that's probably best for his development and longer term for ours if we can sort out issues in the next year or so.

If he's good enough to play in the Premier league then try and get him in ASAP.

After that Brexit and it's anyone's guess what silly and awkward rules will come in to play.

Drew Shortis
6 Posted 03/05/2018 at 11:19:48
If he does not qualify for a work permit then we have no choice but to loan him out to a Belgian team again. Perhaps not for an entire year. Anderlecht is one of the top teams, he's familiar with the setup there and they should qualify for the Champions League. If it is a work permit issue then it's a no-brainer that he should stay for a while longer.

If, however, he has qualified for a work permit based on time spent in Belgium then we have a decision to make as a club. I can't see Allardyce picking Henry on a regular basis, given his handling of Lookman. Both are exciting young talents, but both are raw. If we end up with someone like Fonseca or Silva I can see these kinds of players getting a chance. Under Allardyce its the bench or U23s.

Joe O'Brien
7 Posted 03/05/2018 at 11:31:16
I'm still having problems viewing the page on my smart phone..samsung galaxy in my case. Any ideas editorial lads? It's very annoying. Doesn't happen on every page but does on this one and the 'West Brom in for Allardyce 'page.
James Hughes
8 Posted 03/05/2018 at 12:25:32
Same here, same problem as Joe and also on samsung
Brian Williams
9 Posted 03/05/2018 at 12:39:46
I think it's a two year stint in Belgium that qualifies you for a Belgian passport so he was always staying unless he had enough international appearances to qualify for a work permit that way.
John Pierce
10 Posted 03/05/2018 at 12:41:11
Yup same here as described above. Partial functionality in landscape none in portrait
Keith Harrison
11 Posted 03/05/2018 at 12:55:07
Brian,
He must have been 2 years in Belgium, he played for KAS Eupen the previous season.
Brian Williams
12 Posted 03/05/2018 at 12:56:11
Good point Keith, forgot about that.

Just checked and as far as I can make out it's Belgian citizenship after 5 years living and working in the country.

Brian Cleveland
13 Posted 03/05/2018 at 13:23:42
I'm also having screen format issues on my mobile
Simon Smith
14 Posted 03/05/2018 at 13:33:48
I emailed editorial about issues. I've had to come off mobile version. This is on iPhone.
James Hopper
15 Posted 03/05/2018 at 13:36:23
How do work permits work currently? How can someone get permission to work in one part of the EU but not another? Seems a bit daft.
Alan J Thompson
16 Posted 03/05/2018 at 14:29:11
Just as well we have a Director of Football to make sure we don't get into a mess like this, I mean, how silly would it look if we paid millions for someone who can't play for us for 2 or is it 5 years, or ever at all. Or was picked for say the Swiss national side or got a game or three in the Bundesliga.

Stroll on.

Matthew Williams
17 Posted 03/05/2018 at 15:02:34
Could only read this in Landscape mode,the rumours pages seem to have shifted to the left...unlike the country !.
Thomas Surgenor
18 Posted 03/05/2018 at 15:03:06
Alan #16.

We would look even worse if we paid a few million for someone, gave them a 5 year deal but they only got a 3 year work permit.

Luckily, that would never happen us. Would it?

Gordon Crawford
19 Posted 03/05/2018 at 15:43:06
Same problem on iPhone.

Yeah we would be nuts to loan him out if we can help it.

Mike Gaynes
20 Posted 03/05/2018 at 18:52:48
A whole bunch of unknown factors figure into Henry's ultimate destination:
1) whether the knee is fully healed (he's scheduled to finally make his return Sunday), 2) who Everton's manager will be, 3) whether Vanhaezebrouck (often a sharp critic of Onyekuru) stays on at Anderlecht next season, 4) whether the managers critiques are legit and Henry needs to mature, 5) whether Henry makes the WC, 6) the work permit situation and 7) AC Milan's rumoured interest in buying him from us.

And every one of those questions remains unanswered right now, so there's no way in the world to even guess what will happen with this young man.

Personally, I hope he's healthy, matured, legal and with Everton next season, because his pace alone makes him fun to watch.

Matthew Williams
21 Posted 03/05/2018 at 18:54:01
We spent 8 mill on him...fuck,he stays here !.
Mike Gaynes
22 Posted 03/05/2018 at 18:57:39
Maybe, Gordon 18, and maybe not.

We don't know if he's fully recovered from the knee blowout. We don't know if he has matured, or whether his Anderlecht manager's harsh criticism has merit. And we don't know who our manager will be.

Decisions made now can be changed later. Let's just see what the situation is next month, when hopefully we'll have a new boss and hopefully Henry is playing for Nigeria in Russia.

Minik Hansen
23 Posted 03/05/2018 at 19:00:27
Exciting young international player is what we need to keep at the moment.

Well, Matt - How much are AC Milan willing to pay for him is maybe the question.

Bill Gienapp
24 Posted 03/05/2018 at 19:04:43
I was really excited by the prospect of him joining us next season, but if Allardyce is still here, I'd almost say "don't bother."
Dave Lynch
25 Posted 03/05/2018 at 19:08:32
I keep asking myself why we cannot find the type of player the other lot consistently find.

They unearth some great young talent and give them a fair run, they often turn out to be world class too boot.

Continio, Salah, Suarez, Firminho...

We find...

Niasse (bless him), Vlasic and numerous other failures who cannot hold down a first team place.

Something is not right somewhere.

Matthew Williams
26 Posted 03/05/2018 at 19:10:05
Then again Minik if he bags us a winner at Wembley in the League Cup Final...no fucking sale !!!.
Steve Ferns
27 Posted 03/05/2018 at 19:27:06
I think they changed the passport rules in Belgium and he needs three years which he'll have next summer, then a work permit won't matter.
Liam Reilly
28 Posted 03/05/2018 at 19:37:43
Surely the only question is regarding his eligibility to play in the PL and if he has it after the summer, then bring him back for pre-season.

If he's still raw, he can go out on loan before the window shuts or in Jan. God knows the team needs pace and we've got 3 put on loan: this lad, Lookman and Sandro.

I'm in the minority but I'd like to see Sandro with a full Preston but I doubt he'll come back.

Mike Gaynes
29 Posted 03/05/2018 at 20:01:26
Oh Dave #5, Vlasic a failure? Are you kidding?

He's had six appearances and he "cannot hold down a first team place"??

You have to have an opportunity before you can fail. And he's 20.

Also, the RS didn't "unearth some great young talent" in Suarez, Salah or Firmino. All were age 24 and already established international stars. The RS paid €42m for Salah, £29m for Firmino and £23m for Suarez, which was big bucks back in 2011. They didn't discover world class, they bought it.

Coutinho was the only one they discovered in obscurity. And as you point out, they gave him a run in the side right away. We haven't done that with Vlasic. Or Lookman.

Peter Gorman
30 Posted 03/05/2018 at 20:34:09
Very well said Mike, and lest we forget it helps that the other lot have a manager who plays to their strengths.

Was it not revealed the other day that Cenk Tosun's conversion rate of 49% is the highest in the league?

There is not much point having a striker who requires a mere 2 shots to score a goal if you only create one chance for him a game now is there?

Who can yet say what Vlasic might do for the team?

Bill Gienapp
31 Posted 03/05/2018 at 20:51:45
Liam (8) - I too would love to see Sandro get an opportunity next season, but one gets the sense that we'll have to march him back to England at gunpoint.

My gut tells me he never wanted to leave La Liga in the first place. But his agent probably told him something to the effect of "Look... you'll make way more money in the Premier League. Everton's a club on the rise - they have a new owner who's investing heavily and they're in the Europa League this season, so joining them will help your profile. And they're probably losing Lukaku, so there won't be an established striker blocking you."

Steve Ferns
32 Posted 03/05/2018 at 22:26:52
Coutinho was in obscurity? So Inter Milan is obscurity?

The lad joined inter to big fan fare. Sure he flopped and Liverpool took a gamble on him, but he was hardly obscure.

Mike Gaynes
33 Posted 04/05/2018 at 04:52:29
Yes, Steve, five seasons at Inter, Vasco (loan) and Espanyol (loan) is pretty damn obscure when you average about a dozen appearances a season. All the "fan fare" was when he was playing youth and reserve.

Give Rafa credit, he spotted Moutinho as a teenager and got him for Inter, and even after he failed at Inter, Rafa then brought him to Anfield for the bargain price of £8.5m.

Ian Hollingworth
34 Posted 04/05/2018 at 07:25:04
If the lad is any good why aren't we bringing him into the first team squad. I mean it's not like we are overloaded with quality.
Alan J Thompson
35 Posted 04/05/2018 at 10:31:47
Mike (#33); Wasn't Moutinhino a player Moyes tried to sign? I assume you mean Coutinho but I stand to be corrected.
Steve Ferns
36 Posted 04/05/2018 at 13:10:50
I've never said this before, as I so often agree with you, but you're wrong, Mike.

Coutinho was signed by inter with an agreement in place that he'd remain at Vasco for two seasons, to take him to 20 years old.

He actually joined Inter in 2010, two years after they signed him. It was big money, major fanfare and a big deal. He flopped, sure, but it was not obscure. He arrived in Italy as one of the best young players on the planet. Even after flopping, Espanyol took him on loan.

If he was so obscure, then why did Liverpool pay good money for him and intend to play him in the team from the word go?

He was a big player who had had a bad move. Plenty of players do this, and the reason why club give them a second chance is because of what happened to Coutinho at Liverpool.

Steve Ferns
37 Posted 04/05/2018 at 13:14:03
Ian – Moyes tried to sign Joao Moutinho of Sporting after they destroyed us in Europe. He's a great player, a deep-lying playmaker, in the twilight of his career now. He played a small role in Portugal's Euro 16 win. Some argue that he never quite had the career he should have had though.
Mike Gaynes
38 Posted 04/05/2018 at 16:39:13
Alan J #35, yes, that was a typo. I did mean Coutinho. Thanks for catching that.
Steve Ferns
39 Posted 04/05/2018 at 16:47:58
When Liverpool signed Coutinho. I didn't realise it was Pochettino's Espanyol he played for, which is why Pochettino's Southampton tried to sign him.

Poor saints fans must dream of another dimension where Pochettino and all their star players stayed.

David Barks
40 Posted 04/05/2018 at 16:58:53
Let me try to split the difference on Coutinho. Was he an obscure unknown? No. But was he a major star signing when he arrived at Liverpool, not really. They obviously thought he'd be good, otherwise they wouldn't sign him. But it was not a big money signing or even seen as big as Salah.

What they've done is loaded up on exciting and skillful attacking players that can occupy any space up front. It's plug and play with them. Similar to City with the ability to call on Sterling, Aguero, Jesus, Silva (David and Bernardo), Sane. And that doesn't even get to add Bruyne who sits behind those players. We on the other hand have Walcott and Tosun.

Mike Gaynes
41 Posted 04/05/2018 at 17:04:49
Steve #36, like I said, he was renowned as a teenager and there were lots of trumpets blowing when he joined Inter. Then he pretty much disappeared. One of the "best young players on the planet" doesn't go for a skimpy eight million at age 21 (we paid 10 mil for Vlasic) unless he has faded into the busted flush category in the footy world.

Only Coutinho's former managers Rafa and Poch knew better and went after him. Nobody else was in for him at the time. Nobody was writing about him -- the Corriere Dello Sport database shows almost no Coutinho stories between July 2010, when Rafa proclaimed him Inter's future, and January 2013, when he left Italy. And the English press pretty much ignored his signing with the RS. Like I said, pretty obscure at that point.

Anyway, my main point was that the RS get too much credit for "discovering" and signing talent in comparison to us. Had it not been for Rafa knowing all about him, they'd have missed on Coutinho like the rest of the world.

Steve Ferns
42 Posted 04/05/2018 at 17:10:54
Mike he won the youth World Cup. He was the player of the tournament and heralded as the next best player in the world.

When Inter signed him, and Inter are one of the biggest clubs in the world, they said he's the future of Inter.

He was talked up for years as being the next Messi. Just because he had a couple of bad years at Inter (yet still played a significant number of games in 2.5 years there - far more than Vlasic for us) doesn't push him into obscurity.

He was a gamble by Liverpool. That's very much agreed. The fee was not as small as you make out. £8.5m in 2013 for a 20 / 21 year old kid is not pocket change. Sturridge was there other big signing and he cost £12m.

It says more about inflation.


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