This summer was meant to be the chance for Henry Onyekuru to prove himself on a big stage.
The Everton man was picked for Nigeria's Africa Cup of Nations squad and his country made it all the way to the semi final of the tourament.
This could have been the opportunity for the forward to showcase his talents on an international stage and, in turn, help his cause in terms of getting a work permit to finally play for his parent club.
However, it didn't go to plan.
In fact, Onyekuru only managed to pick up 12 minutes of action throughout the tournament - coming off the bench in the semi final against Algeria which Nigeria lost 2-1.
The winger was still benched for the third place playoff against Tunisia, leaving it very unlikely Everton will manage to secure a work permit once again for the 22-year-old.
Speculation has been rife around the youngster's immediate future in the wake of this and now, according to reports in Russia, the player has seemingly turned down a potential move away from Goodison Park.
His agent Guillaume Costet-Barmada, is quoted as saying by Russian outlet Sport24 (via RoyalBlueMersey ): "We had a proposal from CSKA, but the player decided to refuse the Moscow club."
So, this move might not be in the pipeline - but a different one certainly needs to be.
Everton are faced with a big decision over Onyekuru over the course of the summer - should they loan out the forward once more, or should they cut ties now?
There are arguments for both sides.
On the one hand, Everton clearly have a talented player on their books in the Nigeria international.
The 22-year-old took his strong form for Anderlecht across the 2017/18 term into last season and a tougher test with Galatasaray - in a division he wasn't familiar with.
His 14 goals and three assists in the league was a fantastic return and caught the eye of many across Europe, including Everton fans of course.
But, will Blues supporters ever get the opportunity to see his quality?
New work permit regulations, introduced in 2015, made it more difficult for non EEA (European Economic Area) players to sign for Premier League clubs unless they were “internationally established at the highest level” .
So, in Onyekuru's case, to qualify he would have to had played 75% of Nigeria's fixtures over the last two years - and sitting out of the Africa Cup of Nations will have massively damaged that hope.
| Official FIFA Ranking | Required % of international matches over previous 24 months |
| FIFA 1-10 | 30% and above |
| FIFA 11-20 | 45% and above |
| FIFA 21-30 | 60% and above |
| FIFA 31-50 | 75% and above |
Onyekuru still has three years left to run on his Everton contract, so the possibility of another loan move is still there - and the player's resale value is still high.
The Blues are in talks with RB Leipzig over the future of Ademola Lookman, which could further reduce the club's options out wide.
Could Onyekuru fill that position in the future? Perhaps.
But that's only if the decision is made to keep him - and that seems no sure thing.
In May , when asked about the future of the forward, Marco Silva offered an honest assessment that he hadn't whether the winger was in his plans.
"I didn’t decide yet," Silva was quoted by The Times' Paul Joyce as saying.
"At this moment we have 4 wingers in our squad - Richarlison, Lookman, Bernard and Theo - 4 with right foot and he is one more with a right foot.
"We would have to think about a work permit, also."
Onyekuru's Africa Cup of Nations failure has only handed Marcel Brands another big decision to make.
