According to reports, Scottish champions, Celtic will be facing a stiff competition from Premier league side Southampton in their pursuit of long-term target Nigerian teenager Henry Onyekuru. The Belgian league star has been on Brendan Rodgers’ wanted list for a long time now with numerous attempts made in the winter transfer window resulting in failure.
With the Scottish Premiership in the pocket, the rest of the season is a mere formality for the Bhoys now and the primary objective would be to get in players to improve their European chances next season. And the danger of missing out on one of their main summer targets will definitely be a huge concern for Rodgers for sure.
Certain Premier League sides have already sent their scouts to watch the player with Southampton being one of them. They have positive reports and a move might be on the cards soon. When asked Onyekuru about this, he said, “After the playoff, I will announce my decision. I have made my decision to leave. I have already agreed with Eupen that I am joining my new club after this season.”
One thing is for sure that the player will make a move this summer and it will depend on the clubs to convince him. He has scored an impressive 12 goals in 28 top-flight games this season and four more in the Europa League play-offs. Other European sides who are keeping tabs on him are Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach and Lille.
The biggest edge that Celtic will have is the Champions League qualification. And unless his other suitors miss out on the grand European tournament, Celtic’s chances are slim. Celtic already had a £1 million bid rejected last January and the club wants something in the region of £7million to let him go. And it is expected to rise if he is named Belgium’s Player of the Year at the end of the season.
Naturally a left winger, Onyekuru also can play as a lone striker as well as on the right flank. His rise to prominence has quite an interesting story. He was a free agent with no club when the Belgian side picked him up back in 2015.
And it was incredible how he established himself as Eupen’s first team player scoring six goals in his first season playing a significant role in the club’s promotion to the top tier. Since then, there has been no looking back for him with the player being involved in almost every goal the side have scored.
