The long drawn out saga of Paul Onuachu is about to come to an end, as news comes out of Turkey that Saints have finally agreed a fee with Trabzonspor and the player will make the move just before the Turkish transfer window slams shut.

it appears that we are about to wave goodbye to Paul Onuachu some 20 months after he first arrived from Genk in the hope that he would be the man that would fire us to safety in our relegation battle.

But fate would deal him a cruel blow, Nathan Jones was sacked shortly after he arrived and temporary replacement Ruben Selles had different ideas about how he wanted to play the game.

I don't think anyonce can accuse Tall Paul of a lack of effort, he had a decent game in Selles first game in charge, a 1-0 win at Chelsea, but after that he struggled a little, although he nearly equalised away to West Ham with a thumping header.

When Russell Martin arrived, he was never going to suit his type of game and he was loaned out to Trabzonspor who clearly liked the contribution he made of with 15 goals in 21 League games.

However not enough to offer a reasonable fee for him this summer and the saga dragged on as the Turkish club put in derisory offers of around £5 million for a player who had cost around £16 million just 18 months earlier.

Now with the Turkish transfer window about to close it seems they have got serious and upped the ante to somewhere nearer the £10 million that Southampton were seeking.

The reports from Turkey are suggesting that the fee is going to be somewhere between £8-9 million, although it is not clear yet what over clauses are in the contract, ie appearance based add ons or sell on profits etc.

So the sorry tale is about to come to an end, in truth although Tall Paul did little to really push for a place in our starting line up, as I mentioned earlier that was not entirely his fault.

We are cutting our losses and putting the money in the kitty for January.

Good luck Tall Paul for the rest of your career, you didn't give us much, but for a few games you did give us hope.

Photo: Action Images

DellBoyWally added 12:10 - Sep 9 We need a reliable scorer, something different, a target for our wingers and wing backs. So let's sell the only one we have!!
2

Farlow added 13:10 - Sep 9 Agree with Dellboy its bad management to pay 16m for a plaayer and not give him a proper go.
2

codge added 13:23 - Sep 9 Never got a chance to show what he could do for us a shame.
0

underweststand added 15:58 - Sep 9 another case of ..what might have been...but his loan to Turkey was a case of the right player at the right time --for them, as there are few teams likely to buy a 30 year old for the fee we paid out in haste, and the real winners are Gent, who pocketed the 18 million in the original deal, and Trabzonspor who have got a player who fits their needs - at a genuine cut price for them. In retrospect, transfer buys in " the Nathan Jones era " all went wrong - in different ways. The deal for Orsic never got off the ground, and although Alcarez looked a good buy at the time, he always seemed like a square peg, and although we made a small profit on his return to Argentina, the big deals for Onuachu and Sulemana will be an expensive lesson that Sport Republic will want to avoid again. Although James Bree came at a small fee, he was never first choice last season and is unlikely to feature much at this higher level. Of the 60 million paid out in that window, we have recovered barely half, with Sulemana's uncertain fate, SR are unlikely to balance the books even after his eventual departure.

-1

Jesus_02 added 16:06 - Sep 9 He was always going to be sold off. It’s not just the fee for FFP but also the wages. I echo the frustration that he never got a chance but he was never likely to this season either. The growing frustration is with the system of play. Diaz and Armstrong are both strikers but it doesn’t look like they will get the opportunity to play in that position . It’s no coincidence that after 3 games our only scorer is a full back.

2

AmericanSaint added 16:18 - Sep 9 Paul was a perfect "Plan B" for when the system needs to be changed in a game. That RM can't see that shows a shortcoming as a coach. Tall Paul can score and we need that NOW. Just shaking my head by this poor decision.
0

Boris1977 added 17:05 - Sep 9 Even when there's an international break Saints still manage to make a mess of footballing matters 😉. Like others here it's a massive shame that he's leaving as he would have at least been a potential surprise for the opposition and we know that he is a goal scorer. I'm sure RM is working miracles on the training field.... COYRs
-1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Cheltenham Town Polls