Henry Onyekuru, on loan from Everton to Anderlecht for the season, was one of the bright sparks for the home team as PSG travelled to Belgium this week.
PSG beat Anderlecht 4-0, but Onyekuru was still rated as 6/10 out of 10 by L’Equipe. To put that into some kind of context, the French newspaper don’t throw around high ratings easily and only 2 PSG players scored better.
The young Everton loanee played out on the left, which may not be the ideal scenario given the need for a striker at Goodison Park.
Earlier this month, Onyekuru spoke about a winter return to Everton, and Belgium’s DH quoted him as saying: “I hope to be able to play there in January. Everton is happy with my start to the season. But we are not in January and all my concentration is in Anderlecht.”
That possibility has now been rubbished with Belgium’s Voetbal Nieuws quoting the player’s agent as saying: “It’s not possible to return to Everton in winter, unfortunately. There is no clause in the contract that they can retrieve him early. In addition, he is not eligible for a work permit. The intention is that he will return to Everton this summer.”
Hoops could be jumped through over a work permit, it may be worth a try with an outside chance, but if Everton don’t have a return clause then they’d have to rely on Anderlecht agreeing.
Whilst that appears unlikely, given he’s one of the club’s most important players, Onyekuru has shown in the past that he’s ready to force things if needed, going AWOL from Eupen last winter when denied a move to Celtic.