Anderlecht have quickly dismissed claims attributed to Henry Onyekuru in which the Nigerian international stated that he does not need an operation and will return to the pitch in the first week of February.
The Everton loanee tore the internal ligament of his right knee in the second half of Anderlecht’s 1-0 win over his former club Eupen exactly a week ago after clashing with the goalkeeper.
‘’Last weekend, Henry Onyekuru had directly passed the necessary exams. Our medical staff and the attending physician were of the opinion that an operation was inevitable,’’ Anderlecht wrote on their * official website on Friday, December 29.
‘’After these recent statements, they maintain their original point of view.
‘’Given the severity of this injury, the quick winger will in any case be sidelined for several months to recover optimally. The details will be discussed internally with Everton FC, the club that lends us Henry Onyekuru.’’
Anderlecht manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck says Onyekuru will be out of action for six months, which effectively rules him out of the 2018 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has claimed that the Super Eagles will face a country that has qualified for the 2018 World Cup in a friendly in London on March 27, 2018.
The NFF boss has also disclosed that the national team will trade tackles with at least four countries in friendlies as part of their preparations for the mundial and has explained why a fifth warm-up match scheduled to take place on June 6 might not hold.
‘’We have lined up A graded friendlies. We have the first one on the 23rd of March which is a World Cup qualifying team. The next game is on the 27th which will be played in a London with a team that qualified for the World Cup. I have all the letters here with me,’’ Pinnick told Channels TV.
‘We are hoping to play in Nigeria. even though the country is confirmed we have made some request to the Ministry in making sure the Abuja Stadium is ready because the Super Eagles are itching to play in Abuja.
‘’They want to tell Nigerians thank you for supporting them. We have spoken to one of the African countries that qualified. That one is the 28th of May.
‘’On the 2nd of June, we are playing outside the country, on the sixth of June, ten days to our World Cup opener. People in our Strategic Study Group said it is too close to the World Cup, so that one is still hanging. ‘’
Though Pinnick did not disclose the identities of Nigeria’s opponents, it is understood that the Nigerian Federation are in talks with Poland, Egypt and England as regards to friendly matches.
• Culled from allnigeriansoccer.com
