Galatasaray forward Henry Onyekuru has been called up by Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr to replace injured Samuel Kalu in the 24-man list for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho this month.
Kalu picked up an injury in Bordeaux’s 3-1 victory over Dijon on Sunday after just 16 minutes and was replaced by Nicolas de Preville.
The French club confirmed via its twitter handle during the game.
However, Rohr has reportedly replaced him with Onyekuru who was on the standby list released last week.
“Galatasaray’s Henry Onyekuru will replace the injured Samuel Kalu in Super Eagles squad for this month’s #AFCON qualifiers,” former Super Eagles Media Officer, Collin Udoh said on Twitter Monday.
Onyekuru bagged a brace for his Turkish club on Saturday as they saw off Kayserispor 3-0 in their top-flight fixture.
With Onyekuru replacing Kalu, Rohr has once again left out Paul Onuachu, the highest goal Scorer in Europe currently but he is among the standby players named by Rohr for the Eagles’ matches.
Onuachu scored his 27th goal of the season to help Genk secure a 2-1 victory over Anderlecht in Sunday’s Belgian Cup tie.
The centre-forward has been in fine form for his Belgium club this campaign.
The Nigeria international was handed his 31st appearance across all competitions this campaign and helped his side continue in their winning ways.
Super Eagles will battle Benin on March 27 and Lesotho three days later in their quest to reach the 2021 AFCON final in Cameroon
