Paul Onuachu: Has He Finally Found His Mojo?

After an uninspiring half season with Southampton where he failed to register one Premier League goal, culminating in the Saints loaning Paul Onuachu to Turkish side, Trabzonspor, the Nigerian seems to have settled quickly at the Arena Stadium, scoring in his first three games for the Bordo Mavililie-the first Trabzonspor to achieve the feat since 2007/08 season, making the club’s President, Erturul Doan to express regrets for not having signed the Nigerian much earlier  

Trabzonspor President, Erturul Doan has reportedly expressed his regret over delaying the signing of Onuachu from Southampton until the final moments of the Turkish summer transfer window after the striker’s arrival has brought about a positive change in the club’s performance.

Before Onuachu’s arrival, Trabzonspor had played four league games, winning two and suffering two losses, including a disappointing 2-3 home defeat to Rizespor.

Since the 29-year-old striker joined the team, Trabzonspor has won two out of three league games, with Onuachu notching goals in each of those matches and providing an assist.

According to reports from Fotospor, President Doan has expressed his wish that they had secured Onuachu’s signing when he was first offered to the club back in July.

He believes that had Onuachu joined earlier, trained with the team, and integrated into the game system, many of the points they lost could have been avoided.

Onuachu’s name first surfaced on Trabzonspor’s radar in July, and he was also offered to Galatasaray at that time.

However, Galatasaray did not pursue the Nigerian striker due to other considerations, including the presence of Icardi. Doan’s reliance on head coach Nenad Bjelica’s preference for Bruno Petkovic played a role in the delay.

Bjelica had expressed his priority for Petkovic and believed that he could convince Dinamo Zagreb to release him.

Trabzonspor even offered the Croatian striker a substantial salary increase. However, in the end, Petkovic remained with Dinamo Zagreb, while Trabzonspor successfully completed Onuachu’s signing.

This last-minute move has proven to be a stroke of inspiration, as Onuachu has impressively scored goals in each of his first three matches wearing the claret-blue jersey.

The former KRC Genk goal-machine will look to add to his goal tally when Trabzonspor trade tackles with Adana Demirspor this weekend.

Onuachu has therefore become the first Trabzonspor player to score three goals in his first three Super Lig matches since the 2007/08 season.

The strike was his 167th club career goal, having played for KRC Genk, Midtjylland, Vejle Boldklub, Southampton and Trabzonspor.

The 29-year-old opened the scoring in Trabzonspor’s 2-1 win against Pendikspor last Saturday after finding the net on his debut for the Burgundy Blues against Besiktas and also hit the target in his second game against Hatayspor.

“Everybody here played a big role in making me settle in and I just want to give my best to the team and help them win games and make the fans happy as well.

“It was not easy at the start of the year but I’m happy to have begun my career on a good note here at Trabzonspor and I want to keep improving in every game and prove again that I have it.”

“To be honest, I personally don’t follow history very much. But if you come to a team like Trabzonspor, of course you try to help your team, you try to make your fans happy,” Onuachu was quoted by Sozcu.

The 29-year-old, who joined the Turkish club on a season-long loan from Southampton, admitted that it was easy adjusting to football in Turkey as he was desperate to prove himself again, after an uninspiring half a season at Saint Marys.

The Nigerian failed to find the net in 12 games nor make a goal contribution for the Saints as they suffered relegation to the English Championship last season.

The former Genk striker, who was the top scorer in Belgium two seasons ago, couldn’t  make it four goals from four games as Trabzonspor fell 1-0 to Adana Demirspor in a Super Lig game yesterday.

Trabzonspor have won three of their last four matches and are currently fifth with 12 points from seven games. A win will see them move above third-place Adana Dermirspor, who have 14 points from the same number of games.

Onuachu’s new found form has indeed made Danish football tactician, Jess Thorup, to question the decision of Super Eagles manager Jose Peseiro to leave the Southampton loanee out of the Nigeria squad for the October internationals against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique.

The striker has scored the most goals in his career working under Thorup, 61 in 135 matches combined for FC Midtjylland and Racing Genk.

Peseiro has named five players classed as center forwards on his roster for the upcoming friendlies, namely Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Osimhen, Taiwo Awoniyi, Terem Moffi and Victor Boniface.

The FC Ebedei product has made just three appearances for the Super Eagles in the last two years, the last of which came against Guinea-Bissau in an Africa Cup of Nations in March 2023.

Thorup has highlighted the qualities that his former pupil Onuachu would bring to the Super Eagles if called up.

“He has and has shown that he can perform at the international level,” Thorup said to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

“Onuachu is a football player who is technically and physically strong, has good speed, and has the ability to score goals.”

He added: “Paul Onuachu is a special player that we don’t see much in football. Onuachu has sharp skills that are really good but not easy to compare with others.

“I am surprised that Paul Onuachu is not in the Nigeria National Team but I am sure he will be a permanent part of the team in the long run.”

In 19 appearances for the Super Eagles, six of which he started, Onuachu has scored three goals.