Reports from Turkey have described Trabzonspor as "Rolling up their sleeves" in an attempt to keep Tall Paul Onauchu next season, however it appears that they are not prepared to roll out their wallets to do so.
Saints were in desperate straits when they signed Paul Onauchu on the final day of the January transfer window back in 2023, forking out around £14 million for his services.
An almost immediate change of manager brought an almost immediate change of playing style and Tall Paul was redundant before he had barely played a game.
The arrival of a new manager in Russell Martin meant yet another playing style and the possession football game was just not suited to Onauchu's talents. so it was inevitable that he might head out on loan given the fact that there were few clubs willing to match his salary at St Mary's, a contract which ends in the summer of 2026.
Trabzonspor in Turkey however did want him, but they didn't have the money to buy him outright either in terms of a transfer fee or matching his wages.
So they went down the loan route, seemingly paying a 1.5 million Euros loan fee and presumably his wages for the season, perhaps a cost of around £2.5 million.
Since arriving Tall Paul has been somewhat of a success scoring 9 goals and also 3 assists in 15 starts & 2 off the bench, his season has been interrupted by International duty at AFCON & recently by a fractured forearm which is currently keeping him on the sidelines.
Given his displays his value according to transfermarkt is not that far below what Southampton paid for his services, currently 12 million euros or £10.5 million in our money at the current exchange rate.
So it is no surprise according to Sportwitness that Trabzonspor are looking to hold talks and are rolling up their sleeves to keep Tall Paul in Turkey.
Reports say that Saints are looking to recoup most of their outlay on the player and are refusing to budge from the 12 million Euros valuation previously mentioned, they feel confident that they can find a buyer elsewhere in Europe at that price.
But apparently the player is happy in Turkey and so Trabzonspor are opening talks with Saints to keep him.
However this won't be easy, Trabzonspor are well aware they are not going to get anywhere near the player's transfer fee or his wages, the money just isn't there in Turkish football as it is in other parts of Europe, so they are looking for another loan deal.
This seems doomed to end in failure, with two years left on his contract Saints have a reasonable chance of a good fee, given that the player's reputation has been restored after his disastrous time in England.
Although on paper Saints will make a loss on their original outlay, they seem to have recouped around 4 million in loan fee and wages of the 16 million euros originally paid, so if they can find a buyer at 10 million euros plus, the damage to the Sport Republic bank balance won't be as heavy as it might have been.