Turkish giants land Everton starlet on loan after Anderlecht animosity
Galatasaray have confirmed the season-long loan signing of Everton starlet Henry Onyekuru.
The Nigerian forward has departed Goodison Park for Turkey for the next 12 months after he completed his switch to the Super Lig giants, who announced the signing on their official Twitter account.
Onyekuru must play his football outside of the UK for the time being after he failed to secure a work permit following a £7m transfer to the Toffees last summer.
The 21-year-old spent the 2017/18 campaign on loan at Belgian outfit Anderlecht and scored 10 goals in 28 appearances for them.
He was sent back to Merseyside for treatment on a serious knee injury last December before he returned to Anderlecht after showing a remarkably recovery from that setback.
However, the attacker didn’t see eye to eye with Anderlecht’s new head coach and, despite being fit to play, was not selected.
That led to animosity from Onyekuru towards his new boss and temporary employers.
Onyekuru refused to return to Anderlecht for next term for this very reason, despite a deal for a two-year loan being agreed between Everton and their European counterparts.
That allowed Galatasaray to swoop in and poach the ex-KAS Eupen wonderkid from under Anderlecht’s noses with Everton’s blessing.
The Turkish side had been in talks with the Toffees since Monday about a possible loan move.
And they have now snapped him up for the next year or so, with Everton hoping to gain a work permit for Onyekuru to play in the Premier League fairly soon.
The strict criteria regarding work permits in England’s top flight mean that Onyekuru must feature regularly for Galatasaray and/or earn enough caps with his national side’s first team to qualify.
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Providing he hits the ground running in Eastern Europe and international recognition follows, he could very well turn out in Royal Blue for the 2019/20 campaign.