Onyekuru won’t return to Anderlecht next season

Everton winger Henry Onyekuru has declared he won’t be returning to Belgium for a second spell with Anderlecht.

Onyekuru joined the Blues last summer but because of work permit issues was unable to join up with his new teammates.

Instead he was sent out on load to Belgian side Anderlecht, where he put in a number of impressive performances across the campaign, including in the Champions League.

It was believed that the initial deal would see Onyekuru return for a second year as Everton look to meet the requirements for him to get a visa but that does not appear to be the plan anymore.

Onyekuru fell out with the Belgian club after picking up an injury, with arguments over how it should be treated.

Ultimately he ended up missing out on a place in Nigeria’s squad for the World Cup and now says he won’t be returning to Belgium this summer.

“One thing I can tell you for sure is that I won’t be playing in Belgium next season,” the 20-year-old forward told Complete Sports in Nigeria, reported by SportWitness.

“There are offers from top clubs in Germany, Spain and in England but that depends on my work permit, we know how difficult that is.”

Where he ends up remains to be seen although the England option seems extremely unlikely given Everton cannot get a work permit for him themselves.

Presumably the Blues will want to see Onyekuru make the step up from the Belgian league and a move to either Spain or Germany would make sense in that regard.

Indeed, given the success that Ademola Lookman enjoyed on loan at RB Leipzig in the second half of last season perhaps that is an avenue worth exploring once again.