Onyekuru was one of the most promising Nigerian players and was expected to make the Super Eagles squad to the 2018 World Cup before injury struck. 

Although he recovered before the tournament, the 22-year-old who was then on loan at Belgian club Anderlecht from Everton could not have enough game-time to prove his fitness and therefore missed the World Cup. 

The 22-year-old speaking on that experience blames his former coach at Anderlecht, Hein Vanhaezebrouck for not playing him after he recovered from the injury. 

“Anderlecht wanted me to have surgery but Everton refused and asked me to come back to England,” the forward who now plays in Turkey with Galatasary told The Athletic. 

“I checked and one of the specialists told me that I could just undergo rehabilitation and that I would be better in a few months. 

“I returned to Belgium to play, but the Nigerian coach had to call Anderlecht to ask them to allow me to play for only 15 minutes so that they could confirm that I was fit to play (for the World Cup 2018, note)."

“The coach was crazy. They wanted me to stay another year, but I refused because of what they did to prevent me from going to the World Cup, “he added.

Onyekuru had joined Anderlecht in the summer of 2017 from Everton who signed him after his breakthrough year at Eupen where he scored 24 goals in all competitions. 

He had scored 10 goals in 28 matches for Anderlecht before he suffered a knee ligament injury in December. 

Since then he has played for Galatasaray and Monaco and is now back with the Turkish giants.