Southampton FC: Twist emerges in Paul Onuachu transfer situation | OneFootball

Paul Onuachu could find himself back at parent club Southampton at the end of the summer transfer window.

Onuachu joined Southampton back in January 2023, signing from Belgian side Genk for a reported £18million fee.

However, the striker failed to score a single goal in 12 appearances for the Saints, as they were relegated from the Premier League.

As a result, the Nigerian was one of a number of players to leave the club in last summer's transfer window.

Onuachu's own move, saw him join Turkish top-flight side Trabzonspor on a season-long loan. Now though, it seems the chances of that move becoming permanent are decreasing.

Trabzonspor eyeing alternative striker targets

Since moving to Trabzonspor, Onuachu has scored nine goals and provided three assists in 19 appearances in all competitions.

However, that may not be enough to secure him a long-term move to the Turkish club.

According to a report from French outlet Lensois, Trabzonspor are now interested in a move to sign striker Adam Buksa from Ligue 1 side Lens in the summer transfer window.

It is claimed that Onuachu is set to return to Southampton when his loan spell expires, and Trabzonspor are targeting Buksa as his replacement.

Buksa is currently on loan with Trabzonspor's Super Lig rivals Antalyaspor, and has scored 14 goals in 30 games for them this season.

According to reports, the 27-year-old could cost around €5million this summer. Meanwhile, Onuachu has two years remaining on his contract with Southampton, securing his future at St Mary's until the end of the 2025/26 season.

Southampton facing play-off lottery in promotion race

While Onuachu has been away, Southampton have been pursuing an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

But after a 5-0 thrashing away at league leaders Leicester City on Tuesday night, it appears they will have to do it via the play-offs.

The Saints currently sit fourth in the Championship table, and are six points adrift of the automatic promotion places with two games of the season remaining. They also have a much worse goal difference than second placed Leeds United, and third placed Ipswich Town.

Southampton are next in action on Saturday afternoon, when they host a Stoke City side fighting to avoid relegation from the Championship, at St Mary's.

It is hard to imagine that this latest update on the future of Onuachu will go down all that well at Southampton.

Given he struggled to settle in at the club last season, and made a limited impact on the pitch, it is hard to imagine he would be able to make much of an impact on his return.

Indeed, the striker was seemingly keen to leave last summer, so if he does not want to be there, having him back could be an unwelcome distraction.

As a result, selling him could have been best for the Saints, especially as that could raise money for other signings.

It seems they may now not be doing that with Trabzonspor though, and it will be interesting to see what other attention in the striker they might be able to generate, after how things have gone for him since he joined.