Brendan Rodgers splashed out £3m to bring Kouassi Eboue to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic – now he’s on loan in Belgium with KRC Genk.
£3 million Celtic misfit Kouassi Eboue has admitted to the Daily Record that he is determined to stay at Genk when his loan spell comes to an end.
You have to feel for this Ivorian midfielder. After barely kicking a ball in anger during three years with the Scottish Premiership champions, one of Brendan Rodgers’ more forgettable signings jumped at the chance to move on loan to Belgium during the January transfer window.
But, just three starts into his Genk career, the Jupiler League season was postponed indefinitely as the ongoing global health pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the beautiful game. Talk about bad timing.
Voetbal Nieuws suggested that a permanent deal could now be in doubt with Genk, like many clubs across the continent, likely to struggle financially during an era of unprecedented uncertainty. But Eboue has not given up hope of putting down roots at the 2019 Belgian champions.
“I have been focused on my loan at Genk and I hope to be able to play for them when this is over,” the 22-year-old former Krasnodar starlet says.
“I don’t want people thinking this hasn’t been a successful loan move just because I haven’t played too many games. I don’t see this as a failure…quite the opposite.
“When I joined Genk, I was not physically ready, but once I got fit, the manager showed he had faith in me and played me as soon as he could. So I don’t see it as a failed loan – I view it as a success.”
Genk director Dimitri de Conde is clearly a big fan of Eboue and compared him to none other than Wilfred Ndidi, the all-action bulldozer of a midfielder who has blossomed into a Leicester City talisman after making a name for himself at the Luminus Arena.
So, if they can afford him once this crisis finally blows over, Genk will surely seize the opportunity to keep Eboue around.
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