President admits Southampton have turned down his bid as Saints ‘insist’ on £12.5m

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As far as Russell Martin’s tactics are concerned, the £18 million forgotten man of Southampton always felt like a pretty awkward fit.

The Saints only tend to chuck crosses into the box when they really need to.

And with Martin preferring a patient, possession-based manner of attacking, it was perhaps no real surprise when a 6ft 7ins targetman like Paul Onuachu immediately found himself out of favour following the appointment of the former Swansea City boss last summer.

Onuachu was loaned out to Trabzonspor, Martin instead making the more mobile, technically-secure Adam Armstrong and Che Adams his first-choice centre-forward options.

And few would have imagined that Onuachu would still be a Saints player at the start of September. That is not to say he’ll be wearing red and white come October, however.

The Turkish transfer window still has ten days remaining, after all, And Trabzonspor have not given up hope yet on securing the towering Nigeria international on a permanent basis.

Paul Onuachu could still leave Southampton

Ertugrul Dogan, the club’s president, confirmed three months ago that Southampton were hoping to sell.

But there is still a massive gap between the fee Trabzonspor are willing to pay and the fee Southampton want to receive.

“We made an offer of six million euros plus bonuses for Paul Onuachu,” Dogan now tells Sporx. “But his club insists on 15 million euros.”

With The Saints holding out for £12.5 million – a fee that would see them recoup a sizeable portion of the money they paid KRC Genk during the ill-fated Nathan Jones era – there is a very real chance Onuachu will be stuck on the South Coast until the winter.

Martin told the Daily Echo in mid-August that the well-travelled 30-year-old could still have an important part to play. Onuachu was, of course, a prolific goalscorer in Belgium.

He hit the net 35 times in the 2020/21 season alone, while ending last term with 17 for Trabzonspor.

But actions speak louder than words, as they say, and it feels telling that Onuachu has been left out of each of Southampton’s three matchday squads since their return to the Premier League.

Russell Martin has praised the seldom-seen striker

“I just think he’s different to what we have. He’s trained really, really well,” Martin said three weeks back. “He’s a different Paul to the one I came across last season in terms of confidence. I think the last pre-season was so difficult for so many of them. 

“They hadn’t had a chance in the Premier League or they’d come in January and not really taken to it that well.

“This summer he’s a different beast. And, whilst he’s here, we will try and utilise him.”

Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Brentford means Southampton have lost all three of their top-flight fixtures since beating Leeds United in the Championship play-off final.

There have been a few tantalising flashes of quality from some of The Saints’ new faces, however. Cameron Archer, Adam Lallana and the stylish Mateus Fernandes caught the eye off the bench at Brentford, while stand-out performer Masayo Sugawara netted a consolation with a brilliant volley.