Henry Onyekuru admits he knew of Celtic interest, but his destiny was to sign for Everton

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Everton’s Henry Onyekuru has commented on interest from Celtic.

Everton-owned forward Henry Onyekuru has told the Daily Record that he knew of interest from Celtic, but signing for Everton was his destiny – and he claims he won’t have extra motivation against the Bhoys.

Onyekuru, 20, made his name in Belgian football last season, smashing 24 goals in 41 games for KAS Eupen in a remarkable campaign, which unsurprisingly attracted interest.

The Nigerian forward was wanted by a host of clubs back in the January transfer window, with The Scottish Sun noting that Celtic had failed with a bid of just over £1million, with an initial asking price of £4million back then.

Celtic couldn’t afford that price at the time, and they chose not to follow up their move – and come the end of the season, they stood little to no chance of landing him having continued to score in Belgium.

Premier League clubs caught wind of Onyekuru’s exploits, and it was Everton who eventually won the race for his signature, with the London Evening Standard reporting that the Toffees forked out around £7million for the attacker – despite not being able to use him this season.

With Onyekuru failing to qualify for a full UK work permit, Everton chose to loan Onyekuru out to Belgian giants Anderlecht, giving him the chance to continue his development in the Jupiler Pro League again, where he impressed so much last season.

Given that Anderlecht have been drawn in the same Champions League group as Celtic – as well as Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain – Onyekuru is in line to face the club that tried to sign him in January, and he has discussed that situation.

Onyekuru has told the Daily Record that he did know that Celtic wanted him, and he was flattered by their interest, but his destiny was to join Everton, and he hopes to help Anderlecht this season, including against Celtic when they meet in the Champions League – though the game against Brendan Rodgers’ men provide no extra motivation, according to the forward.

“I knew of the interest from Celtic but it was my destiny to join Everton,” said Onyekuru. “I’m really happy that a club like Celtic were interested in me. But I still need to improve as a player and I can do that at Anderlecht before hopefully playing in the Premier League. I want to have an excellent season in Belgium before returning to Everton. But the Champions League draw has been very tough for us, it’s one of the more difficult groups.”

“PSG and Bayern are obviously the favourites to qualify but Celtic is also a complicated opponent for us. Anderlecht’s results have been up and down recently but this squad is prepared to fight in Europe. I won’t have extra motivation for the matches with Celtic. For me, I treat every match like a cup final and I’ll be searching for my best performance against them,” he added.