Genk should ‘do everything’ to bring Paul Onuachu back from Russell Martin’s Southampton after missing out on Champions League qualification last week.
This is one of those transfers which has worked out pretty badly for just about everyone involved.
Paul Onuachu did not score a goal after his £18 million move to Southampton during the January transfer window; watching on helplessly from the bench as the Saints finished bottom of the Premier League table.
Genk, meanwhile, missed out on the Jupiler League title by just one point without their towering talisman. Onuachu’s absence was keenly felt once again as Wouter Vrancken’s side bombed out of the Champions League at the qualification stage last week, beaten on penalties by Swiss outfit Servette.
“After that match, I spent another fifteen minutes staring at my screen. I just couldn’t believe how they missed out!” an exasperated Johan Boskamp tells Het Belang van Limburg. “I still don’t understand it.
“And that against a mediocre team, because Servette is not even one of the best teams in Switzerland!”
Paul Onuachu facing uncertain Southampton future
Boskamp, who guided Genk to the Belgian Cup as the club’s head coach back in 2000, believes his old employers could do a lot worse than to hark back to the recent past to ensure a brighter future.
The 6ft 7ins Onuahcu was conspicuous by his absence as Southampton kick-started the Championship campaign with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night too, new manager Russell Martin preferring the more mobile Che Adams and Adam Armstrong.
It feels unlikely that, should an acceptable offer arrive like with fellow January recruit Mislav Orsic, the Saints would stand in Onuachu’s way.
“If I were them, I would do everything I can to get Onuachu back,” Boskamp adds.
“His departure already cost them the title last season, and now also the Champions League. Put the boy out of his misery and just get him back.
“He doesn’t need an adjustment period, and they know perfectly how to use him. Their game was completely tailored to him.”
Onuachu was prolific at Genk, scoring 85 goals in 134 games while winning Belgian’s Footballer of the Year award in 2021.
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