Southampton pushing to bring in Belgian league top scorer

Southampton could bring in Nigerian international Paul Onuachu as the south coast club reach the final day of the transfer window without a new striker.

According to The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, Southampton had a bid rejected for Paul Onuachu by Genk last week. Tanswell also reports that Paul Onuachu’s camp is pushing for a Premier League move as the player does not want to sign an extension with Genk. An additional report from TalkSport suggests that the clubs are still in talks over a potential transfer.

While the value of the bid rejected by Genk remains an unknown and with the player pushing for a move and just over a year left on his contract, Genk may decide to cash in if Southampton sends an improved bid before the window closes.

To read about Southampton’s pursuit of this Ghanaian wonderkid, click here.

What makes the prospective signing of Paul Onuachu so interesting is that Paul Onuachu played 7 seasons with Danish side FC Midtjylland. Southampton’s Director of Football, Rasmus Ankersen, was chairman of the club before becoming CEO of Sport Republic, Southampton’s owners. It would be reasonable to assume there is additional interest in the player because of this connection but Onuachu’s goal-scoring consistency also makes a transfer to Southampton very tempting.

Onuachu made his move to Genk in 2019 and while his first season did not prove overly impressive, it was his second season in Belgium that really showed how lethal of a striker he can be. He scored an outstanding 33 goals in 38 games (including playoff-round matches) during the 20/21 season. Before Onuachu, the last time a player had scored 30 or more goals in a season in Belgium was over 20 years ago.

At 29 years old, Onuachu would be a veteran player in the Southampton squad and measuring over 2 metres tall, Onuachu could provide the Saints with an aerial threat up front that they currently do not have. Additionally, with James Ward-Prowse on the set pieces, Onuachu receiving the crosses whipped into the box could provide a deadly combo for Southampton.