Celtic missed out on Henry Onyekuru in January but should join the chase for the latest Belgium-based goalscoring prodigy.
Celtic set the ball rolling in the pursuit of Henry Onyekuru. Back in January, the Scottish Sun reported that The Hoops had made a £1 million for the teenage striker, who was earning rave reviews in Belgium for his performances at KAS Eupen.
For a while, it looked as if Onyekuru would be a Celtic player. The Nigerian himself admitted interest in moving to Parkhead (Daily Record) but, as his remarkable goals tally increased, he quickly became the centre of attention for clubs with a bigger transfer budget and greater pulling power.
In the end, Everton managed to lure Onyekuru to Goodison Park just a few months after Celtic’s offer – paying £6 million more than Brendan Rodgers’ side put on the table.
On year on, however, there is another fresh-faced striker ripping it up in Belgium and seemingly set to spark a Europe-wide tug-of-war for his signature.
Bande the bandit
Hassane Bande’s breakthrough season at KV Mechelen could not have gone much better so far. The 19-year-old has scored eight goals in 12 Jupiler League games for the struggling side, meaning he has stormed to the front of the Golden Boot race.
But it appears Mechelen, like Eupen before them, won’t be able to hold onto their prized asset for much longer.
Newcastle United have been linked, per DH, with Rafa Benitez’s side desperate to add to their attacking ranks in the New Year with Joselu, Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic contributing just four goals between them. PSV, Wolfsburg, Sevilla, Koln and Valencia are all understood to be interested too.
But Celtic are also on the search for a striker amid recent links with Artem Dovbyk, Patrick Twumasi and Richmond Boakye. And Bande, who DH claims will be available for the bargain fee of just £3.5 million, is within their price range.
Bringing in the latest teenage goal-machine scoring for fun in Belgium; what better way than to get over missing out on Onyekuru?
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