Genk manager John Van den Brom cannot believe that the likes of Arsenal and West Ham United did not take a punt on Paul Onuachu and take the free-scoring striker to the Premier League, speaking via Voetbal Krant.
Standing at 6ft 7ins, Onuachu would certainly have given Mikel Arteta and David Moyes a different sort of threat in the final third.
Maybe too different.
As the likes of Marouane Fellaini and Andy Carroll fell out of favour on the Premier League stage, it’s tempting to wonder whether the days of towering targetman – let alone the likes of Duncan Ferguson – have been consigned to the distant past.
And though there is still room for a physical centre-forward – Dominic Calvert-Lewin has gone from strength to strength at Everton after all – there are enough doubts regarding Onuachu’s technical ability to explain why Arsenal and West Ham, who were both linked over the summer, decided against meeting his £20 million price-tag (The Athletic).
Moyes, for what it’s worth, distanced the Hammers from a bid for the one-time Midtjylland man ahead of their Europa League clash with Genk recently.
Could Paul Onuachu still end up in the Premier League?
“Paul hoped for a transfer but, in the end, no one came,” explains former AZ Alkmaar coach Van den Brom, echoing what Onuachu said after the transfer window slammed shut on his fingers at the start of September.
“In the final few days before the closing of the window, he realized that he would have to stay. Was he disappointed? Let’s say he’s a boy who’s too sweet (to express his frustration.
“I still don’t understand why no club was concrete for him. Put Paul in a top league, surround him with even better players, and he will score his goals there too. I really like him very much.”
Onuachu fired Genk to Belgian cup glory with 35 goals last season and has 12 to his name already this.
And with The Mail reporting that Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton are interested – and with other reports naming Aston Villa as a potential destination – there is still some hope for the late-blooming Nigeria international.
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