Henry Onyekuru: Another Missionary Journey to Galatasaray Looms

Less than six months after he moved to Olympiacos, Super Eagles forward Henry Onyekuru may be on the move again after he failed to impress with the Turkish side

According to Greek media, as per Mynet, Henry Onyekuru will be leaving Olympiacos in the January transfer season after failing to make much positive impact during his first six months at the club.

Onyekuru only moved to Olympiacos in August after the Greek champions secured his signing on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of four-and-a-half million euros. The Greek giants beat Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Besiktas to his signature in the summer.

But the 24-year-old forward has found it hard to settle down in Greece, and he is yet to produce his best form.
The Nigerian international has not registered a goal in nine league appearances and has just one assist in five Europa League games for the Red-Whites.

According to the reports, Onyekuru has his eyes set on returning to Galatasaray, where he has previously spent three different loan spells.

Aside from his remarkable breakthrough period at Eupen, Onyekuru has only been excellent at Galatasaray, with spells at Monaco, Anderlecht, and Olympiacos not as productive.
The Super Eagles star grabbed 22 goals and 12 assists in 71 matches with the yellow-reds, winning the Super Lig and Turkish Cup double in 2019.

However, Galatasaray are not interested in signing Onyekuru outright, with the Fatih Terim-tutored side preparing a loan deal until the end of the season.

An exciting player who can hurt opponents in a variety of ways with his explosive, game-changing set of attributes, he’s certainly a nightmare for defenders to come up against.

Blessed with scintillating pace, acceleration and agility, these characteristics ensure he’s such a threat with and without the ball. Firstly, when embarking on his runs, he does so in a thoughtful fashion, as he times, angles and directs his run smartly to get the edge on his adversaries. So quick and aware when a teammate is in a position to pinpoint him, he gets on his bike swiftly to give himself every chance to latch onto through balls first.

The way he uses little hesitation moves, double movements, zig-zags, wicked out-to-in diagonal runs, pins markers and exploits the blindside of his marker adds to his menace.
In addition, when bursting into the box, the way he attacks the six-yard box, knows when to go to the near or far post and has the presence of mind to hold his runs as the defence collapses is a bonus.

Meanwhile, when it comes to his work with the ball at his feet, Onyekuru poses a very unpredictable and elusive proposition. On top of his aforementioned athleticism, his mazy dribbling ensures he can breeze by his man with his sheer pace, cut infield in an instant or beat his man with feints, shoulder drops, stepovers or searing changes of pace and direction. Moreover, the fact he’s so dangerous on the ball often attracts multiple markers, which has the key byproduct of freeing up space for teammates and destabilising his foes’ shape.

His close control when dribbling at speed notably places doubt in defenders minds, for if they step in he can quickly shift the ball to outfox them or draw a foul, thus making him an even more challenging adversary.
It must be said, however, that he can overdo it sometimes on the dribble, which means he gets cornered or fails to see a teammate in a better position. But in all, any negatives are outweighed by the big positives attached to his confident and eye-catching work here.

While it’s not really his game to create chances or orchestrate passing moves, there’s been some signs of his aptitude here, as he can combine nicely in around the box, calmly recycle possession and play the odd splitting through ball if the option is there. Probably the most effective tool in this regard is how he plays some slick one-twos which help unlock deep sitting defences while allowing him to receive the return pass in a goal facing posture so he can continue his momentum.

Onyekuru’s finishing complements his intriguing game nicely, for this ever-improving area of his armoury allows him to reward all his good work. Instinctive and with a keen eye for goal, the man who finished sixth in the Turkish Super League scoring charts despite playing predominantly as a winger, can crucially score in a variety of ways.

Onyekuru has four years to run on his contract with Monaco, whom he joined from Everton last summer.
The 24-year-old has capped 11 times for Nigeria and was part of the Super Eagles team that clinched bronze at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Onyekuru began his football career with the Aspire Academy in 2010, and graduated in 2015 joining their partner club, KAS Eupen and helped the team get promotion to the Belgium First Division A in his debut season.

After a successful season in the Belgium first division, Onyekuru finished as one of the top scorers in the league, attracting the attention of various big teams in Europe. He finished the 2016/2017 season as joint top-scorer with 22 goals, but the trophy was handed to his rival as he scored more away goals than Onyekuru.
He made his senior debut for Nigeria in a 3-0 friendly win over Togo last year’s July.