Arch rivals Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion could do worse than bring Genk striker Paul Onuachu to the Premier League, Belgian pundit Filip Joos has told Sporza.
Considering he’s plundered a remarkable 46 goals since the start of last season – and 11 in 12 games so far in 2021/22 – the 2m target man could be forgiven for wondering why no-one was willing to take a punt on him in the last transfer window.
West Ham were linked (of course they were, they were linked with every striker in Europe between January and July). But despite David Moyes’ admiration for the 6ft 7in Onuachu, the Hammers board weren’t enamoured by the prospect of paying £22 million for a 27-year-old unproven at the top level of European football.
And, as Jupiler League legend Jan Ceulemans pointed out earlier this week, the likes of Wesley Moraes and Mbwana Samatta struggled to adapt at Aston Villa after swapping the small pond that is Belgium’s top flight for the choppy waters of English football.
Perhaps, Cuelemans wonders, the struggles of previous Jupiler League exports worked to Onuachu’s disadvantage?
Onuachu ‘could be golden’ for Crystal Palace or Brighton
“I think it’s great (Onuachu) stayed with Genk – and Genk was able to keep him. I am a huge fan of his,” Joos says of a man who scored what he labelled the “ugliest hat-trick of all time” against RFC Seraing at the weekend. The striker bundled a couple of bizarre finishes over the line before slotting home a second-half penalty.
“He is a real goal-getter, (although) his first touches could sometimes be a bit better. Apparently nobody really had an interest in him (during the summer). I don’t understand that.
“For a team like Brighton or Crystal Palace, for example, he could be golden.”
Brighton did take a punt on another exciting forward who was scoring for fun in one of Europe’s lesser leagues, signing Abdallah ‘the next Thierry Henry’ Sima from Slavia Prague before loaning him to Stoke City.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, snapped up former Celtic talisman Odsonne Edouard for an initial bargain fee of £14 million.
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