Trabzonspor loanee Paul Onuachu is not ruling out a return to Southampton in the summer particularly if Russell Martin’s Saints side go marching back into the Premier League.
You cannot blame the Nigeria international for holding out hope that his Southampton career can be resurrected. Paul Onuachu spent much of his final year at KRC Genk in Belgium telling anyone who would listen just how keen he was to make a name for himself in England and it’s fair to say he has unfinished business on UK soil too.
Onuachu did not score a goal and started only four top-flight games during Southampton’s dreadful few months of an abysmal 2022/23 season.
Paul Onuachu considering Southampton future
Now on loan at Trabzonspor, Onuachu is re-discovering the form that earned him the Belgian League’s Player of the Year award not so long ago. He’s scored eight goals and set up three more in 14 Super Lig starts.
And, in quotes reported by Gunebakis, Onuachu has not given up hope of a fresh start at his parent club, with Southampton storming into the automatic promotion positions and pushing for an immediate return to the big time.
“Who wouldn’t want to play in the Premier League?,” Onuachu says before explaining that he would have to be guaranteed more regular opportunities if he is to make a go of it on the South Coast.
“But if it was going to be the same situation I was in there (before)… I wouldn’t want to be there and be in the same situation.
“Now, I’m happy in Trabzonspor. They play according to my strengths and qualities.”
A point to prove in England
A 6ft 7ins targetman, Onuachu is – as you might have guessed – a striker who relies on quality service from wide areas. Service that was not exactly forthcoming during those forgettable few months at St Mary’s, a team who limped out of the Premier League under Nathan Jones and then Ruben Selles seemingly incapable of providing Onuachu with the ammunition he requires.
He scored 17 goals in 22 games in his final half-season at Genk before that £18 million January switch. Onuachu also hit the net 35 times in a prolific 2020/21 campaign.
It remains to be seen, however, if the possession-focused Russell Martin is willing to adapt his system to suit Onuachu, having enjoyed great success of late with the more mobile Adam Armstrong and Che Adams.
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