Earlier on Thursday, we relayed information from Belgium that Celtic target Henry Onyekuru had come grovelling back to Eupen after his week of striking, as he tried to force a move to Scotland.
Keen on following in Moussa Dembélé’s footsteps and setting Celtic Park alight, the 19-year-old went AWOL last week and refused to reply to his club, whom he accused of failing to keep promises after Celtic offered over €1m for his services ahead of transfer deadline day.
However, with the window now shut, the Nigerian forward made contact with his club on Wednesday night, clearly unwilling to sit out the second half of the season.
Brendan Rodgers will be very keen to see how this goes, but if last night’s performances of Jean-Luc Dompé and Christian Brüls are anything to go by, Eupen might be happy to let Onyekuru rot in the reserves.
Walfoot on Thursday explain both players, who featured against Zulte Waregem on Wednesday night in the Belgian Cup, showed they might have enough between them to help Eupen avoid relegation, and make them forget about Onyekuru.
The problem for Eupen, which could help Celtic in the long run, is that if they don’t let Onyekuru play and shine, his value is unlikely to go up, meaning they might have to sell him for cheaper than first wanted (€3-4m), as shown by West Ham’s £25m sale of Dimitri Payet in January.
The Belgian side’s manager, Jordi Condom, made it clear a few days ago he wasn’t counting on his Nigerian star any longer, leading to the arrival of Jean-Luc Dompé on loan from Standard Liège last week.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this situation for Celtic fans, who seemed very keen on Onyekuru when last week’s events unfolded.
The young forward has scored 12 goals and assisted teammates six times in 25 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
