Barcelona join the race for Everton loanee Henry Onyekuru as they send scouts to watch him

NIGERIAN striking sensation Henry Onyekuru may not return to Everton at the end of his current loan spell with Anderlecht of Belgium because Catalan giants Barcelona have joined the race to secure his services.

Onyekuru, 20, began his footballing career with Nigeria's Aspire Academy in 2010 and graduated in 2015 joining their partner club Eupen of Belgium. After a successful season in the Belgium first division, Onyekuru finished as one of the top scorers in the league with 22 goals, catching the attention of various larger teams in Europe.

As a result, English Premiership side Everton came calling and he joined the club for £7m but was immediately sent on loan to Anderlecht because of Britain's restrictive foreign player rules. This season, Onyekuru has put in several sterling performances for Anderlecht and yesterday, Barcelona scouts were at Royal Excel Mouscron to watch him score his seventh league goal of the season in Anderlecht’s away win.

According to Belgian news outlet Het Laatste Nieuws, Barcelona, Fiorentina, Ajax and PSV all had their scouts in attendance at the game. Premier League giants Manchester United, Southampton and Stoke City are likewise believed to have sent their scout to monitor the stars on parade as the Everton loanee stole the show in the last 10 minutes of the game.