Southampton ‘want to sell’ a player who cost the Championship outfit an initial fee of £18 million not so long ago.
But wanting to sell, and actually doing so, are two very different things, as Russell Martin’s side may be about to find out.
Talks over a potential summer departure are already underway. But Ertugrul Dogan, the Trabzonspor president announcing plans to get a number of deals agreed ‘in the coming days’, will not be stumping up the sort of fee Southampton want for the forgotten man of St Mary’s; their towering targetman Paul Onuachu.
Trabzonspor in Southampton talks over £18m striker
“We are in talks with Paul Onuachu’s club. (Southampton) want to sell him for a transfer fee,” Dogan tells Sporx. “He is a player they bought at a very serious cost.”
You can say that again. Southampton paid nearly £20 million to bring Onuachu to England from Belgian giants KRC Genk in January 2023, splashing out in a desperate attempt to save themselves from the drop.
But Onuachu, shafted somewhat by the almost immediate departure of Nathan Jones, quickly became something of a square peg in a round hole. Jones’ successor, Ruben Selles, appeared to have no interest in playing to the 6ft 7ins centre-forward’s strengths.
The same accusation cannot be aimed at Trabzonspor coach Abdullah Avci.
Onuachu, so prolific in Belgium, has found form again since moving to Turkey on loan last summer. A hat-trick against Gazientep over the weekend took his tally to 12, that ill-fated Southampton spell now looking like a very distracting blot on an otherwise pretty impressive copybook.
Is a permanent move to Trabzonspor on the cards? Well, not unless The Saints drop their demands for a man who still has another two years left on his contract.
Future yet to be decided
“It is not possible for Trabzonspor to incur such a cost right now,” Dogan sighs. “If we can agree on a loan deal, we will re-evaluate the issue.”
Whether Southampton would be willing to send Onuachu out on loan again remains to be seen. It also likely depends on whether offers can be attracted from elsewhere. There surely will not be a shortage of admirers in a sky-scraping number nine who, since the start of 2020/21, plundered 87 goals in all competitions, albeit none of those coming in Southampton colours.
“Now, I’m happy in Trabzonspor. They play according to my strengths and qualities,” Onuachu said in the winter, albeit while not ruling out a potential return to Southampton if a fresh start was offered to him.
“Who wouldn’t want to play in the Premier League? 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.”
Southampton, now set for the play-offs, travel to Leeds United on the final day of the Championship season on Saturday.
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