Chelsea of England fringe player, Ike Ugbo could be on his way to joining Paul Ebere Onuachu and Cyriel Dessers at Racing Genk of Belgium, if the words of a top shot in the club are anything to go by.
AMegasportsarena.com reports that, although Ugbo is keen on finally making his mark at Chelsea, who have loaned him out repeatedly over the past four seasons, the Nigerian-born attacker could end up at Genk instead.
This is sequel to the brilliant spell he had while on loan last season at their Jupiler League rivals, Cercle Brugge, who are not keen on any extension for the youngster.
Ugbo, who has previously been on loan at Sunderland of England and Roda JC Kerkrade of Netherlands, impressed in the Belgian First Division A with Cercle Brugge, with which he scored 17 goals in 34 appearances across all competitions.
However, while Cercle are not thinking of signing Ubo this summer, reverse is the case at Genk, which has a strong Nigerian tradition and aim to add the dark-skinned player to the squad that currently has Onuachu and Dessers.
It is understood that the striker has already agreed personal terms with Genk and Chelsea are looking at selling him for a fee in the region of five million euro, which could be the green light for a deal at Onuachu and Desser’s club.
Dramatically, though, with speculation still lingering over a likely exit for Onuachu this summer, following his top scoring performance last season and series of awards to boot, Ugbo may end up becoming a direct replacement for the Super Eagles’ giant.
This is based on the words of Genk’s sporting director, Dimitri De Condé, who confirmed that the Belgian Cup winners intend to sign a new striker before the close of the summer transfer window.
Although no particular mention was made about Ugbo, general consensus among transfer market watchers indicate that the Chelsea lad could be one on De Condé’s mind, as the lad is not in the plans of The Blues’ coach, Thomas Tuchel for the new season.
Incidentally, additional information out of Belgium indicated that Genk’s plan to sign Ugbo does not hinge on the sale of Onuachu, as the Limburg-based club’s coach, John van den Brom earlier hinted that he is ready to work with three Nigerian attackers.
De Condé alluded to that when he declared that a new striker will be signed even if Onuachu stay, and further told Voetbalkrant: “My homework isn’t done yet.
“Everyone knows that the striker position is the most difficult. We don’t know what will happen. But even if Onuachu stays, it is the intention that an attacker will still be attracted.”
