Henry Onyekuru’s emergence at KAS Eupen between 2015 and 2017 was too-too thrilling. This wasn’t just a starlet impressing at a youth tourney like it’s a dime a dozen in Nigeria. This was a young Nigerian star starring impressively well on the European stage.
His numbers in the 2016/2017 season for Eupen in Belgium paint the accurate picture. The then 20-year-old scored 24 goals in all competitions-22 in the league- to announce himself on the world stage.
Watching him from the wide positions that season, leaving defenders for dead with his sharp burst of acceleration and excellent goalscoring abilities made him look every inch the player ready for the very top.
Unfortunately, Onyekuru’s career path has not gone in that same trajectory since his breakout season in Eupen.
After that season, a slew of top clubs came for him, but he joined Everton who soon sent him off on loan due to his inability to get a work permit in England.
A severe knee injury interrupted an encouraging start to life back in Belgium but this time with Anderlecht. He had scored 10 goals in 28 games before he injured his knee-coincidently in a game against his former side Eupen.
In hindsight, Onyekuru has not shown that insane burst of pace with which he used to leave defenders in his wake since that injury. Did something go wrong there? No one can tell, and it will be incredibly naive to solely attribute his downslide to that injury.
16 goals were a fair return on his next loan stint, this time in Turkey with Galatasary. He was instrumental for The Lions who won the league and cup double in that season (2018/2019). It was, however, at Galatasaray that Onyekuru’s weaknesses came to fore.
The Nigerian lacks the ability to exert himself in games. This comes from his unwillingness to help his team keep the shape or defend without the ball. This outlying also prevents him from being quickly put into play when his side has the ball.
Turkish journalist Emre Sarigul attribute this to the forward’s lack of physique.
“He has the talent, he’s very good with his feet, he is very technical, and he’s fast. Those attributes are impressive. But I actually think he needs to become more physical, in terms of improving his strength,” Sarigul told Liverpool Echo for a January 2019 article.
This flaw was what found him out at Monaco after joining the French side in the summer of 2019. He managed just four league games before returning to Galatasaray in January 2020 to spend the remainder of the season.
For the 2020/2021 season, Robert Kovac fancied Onykuru and referred to him as ‘one of the best wingers in Ligue 1’. But his trust in the Nigerian soon faded.
Another four appearances in the league were all he could muster, and he’s out on loan again, and again to Galatasaray.
The question now is, what next for the once-hot prospect after this move?
In an opinion article on Goal, Nigerian football writer Solace Chukwu opined that the Galatasaray return could be the end of Onyekuru’s once-promising career and it’s hard to disagree with him.
Being spectacular in Turkey is not eye-catching for top clubs in better leagues due to the level of competition there.
The likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Bayern Munich showed genuine interest in Onyekuru after his breakout season at Eupen but as aside from the flaws noted earlier, the forward does not look like the player that wants to put in the work and effort required to play at that level.
Like almost every Nigerian footballer, the 23-year-old seems just about content with the luxury and wealth that his career has brought him so far. So why bother?
It’s hard to see him go another level from here. He seems to love Turkey a lot and the most comfortable choice for him now is to make Gala his permanent home.