Henry Onyekuru’s hopes of rejoining Everton in January have been dashed by his agent.
Onyekuru is midway through a season-long loan with Anderlecht, where the teenage forward has already scored six times in his opening 12 games.
The 20-year-old admitted that he was keen on an early return to Goodison Park at the midway point of the campaign as the Blues continue to face a striker crisis.
Ronald Koeman failed to land Olivier Giroud as a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, forcing Wayne Rooney and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to lead the line.
But reports in Belgium on Thursday claimed that Onyekuru’s agent has already put paid to the player’s Anderlecht spell being terminated ahead of schedule.
The unnamed representative cited Everton’s absence of a recall clause in their agreement with the Belgian club for the Nigeria international as a significant hurdle.
“It’s not possible to return to Everton in winter, unfortunately,” he told Voetbal Nieuws.
“There is no clause in the contract that they can recall him early. In addition, he is not eligible for a work permit.
“The intention is that he will return to Everton this summer.”
[interaction id=”59cec8a32d94910001ce848d”]