Super Eagles forward Henry Onyekuru has been named the fastest player in the Turkish Super Lig.
The former Eupen of Belgium ace, according to United Kingdom-based sports analytics company OPTA, the Galatasaray winger clocked 32kph over 20 meters to be ranked at the top of the speed list.
Onyekuru is loan at the Istanbul-based club from Premier League side Everton until the end of the 2018/19 season.
The 21-year-old Nigerian has racked up 11 goals and three assists in 24 Super Lig appearances, making him one of the top performers for Gala.
He has also recently broken back into the Nigerian national team set up under manager Gernot Rohr, and has racked up nine caps for the Super Eagles thus far.
He celebrated his full debut for the senior team by scoring in the recent 3-1 win against Seychelles in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Onyekuru was nominated for the Young Player of the Year at the NFF Awards but lost out to Villarreal’s new kid on the block Samuel Chukwueze.
Both players are expected to be included in Nigeria’s final squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in June and July.
Despite doing well for Galatasaray, the club have woken to the realities that the Everton loanee will not be plying his trade in Istanbul next season and have targeted Bruma as his replacement, as reported by Takvim.
A £7 million signing from KAS Eupen in 2017 (BBC), Everton were forced to send Onyekuru out on loan to the Turkish Super Lig champions last summer due to ongoing work permit issues. And the Nigerian has now doubt been a big hit at Galatasaray.
TEAMtalk claimed in March that Gala had decided that they would try and sign Onyekuru permanently. But it seems they have now accepted defeat with the Toffees wanting a big fee for one of Europe’s most exciting young forwards.
Takvim reports that Fatih Terim’s side will now make a move for Bruma instead, the Portuguese international winger who spent four years at Galatasaray before joining RB Leipzig two years ago.
