How Paul Onuachu is getting on at Trabzonspor after £6m Southampton exit | OneFootball

The Nigerian was one of many high-profile departures from St Mary's this summer

It has been all-change at Southampton following the club's relegation from the Premier League and the appointment of Will Still this summer.

After what was the second-worst season in the 33-year history of the Premier League, a major rebuild within the Saints squad was the order of the day for the highly-rated manager in what was his maiden transfer window in charge of an English club after prior spells in Belgium and France.

Despite accumulating a measly 12 points across 38 games, Southampton's squad was still littered with quality and a plethora of players who had achieved an immediate promotion back to the top-flight via the Championship play-off final under Russell Martin back in May 2024.

However, the same cannot be said for Paul Onuachu, who wasn't a part of the aforementioned success story at St Mary's, despite being on the club's books since January 2023, moving from Belgian Pro League outfit, KRC Genk, for £18m.

Still was eventually able to shift the Nigerian striker off the club's books this summer though as part of a major squad transformation, with the tall figure returning to his former loan club, Trabzonspor, for a reported £6m.

With that in mind, Football League World has looked at how the 31-year-old has performed since his departure on June 30th.

How Paul Onuachu has fared for Trabzonspor following £6m Southampton transfer agreement

As mentioned previously, the 25-time 'Super Eagles' international forward cost the South Coast outfit a hefty eight-figure fee during Nathan Jones' solitary transfer window in charge of the Reds, just months before the club's lengthy 11-year unbroken stint in the Premier League came to an end.

'Tall Paul' as he was eventually, and rather aptly, named by Saints supporters, failed to score in his first 11 appearances for the club, before being loaned out to Trabzonspor in September 2023.

The striker was able to rekindle his goalscoring touch at Papara Park, scoring 15 times in 21 Süper Lig appearances and registering a further four assists, before returning to Southampton for another underwhelming campaign in which he netted four times in 25 Premier League appearances.

Unsurprisingly, after becoming a transfer mishap whilst still having two years left to run on his contract, Saints posted an approximate £12m loss on the striker's services to move him off their books, returning to the Turkish side two-and-a-half months ago.

Undoubtedly, to the frustration of Southampton supporters, the 6'7" figure has rediscovered his knack for scoring goals almost immediately under Fatih Tekke, as he marked his second debut for 'Karadeniz Fırtınası' with the winner against Kocaelispor on August 11th, reacting on Instagram post-match with the caption of: "Good to be back! For the Fans. Always💙❤️"

Prior to the recent two-week international break, Onuachu scored once again on home turf with a 16th-minute strike against Samsunspor, with Trabzonspor currently finding themselves second in the Süper Lig behind Galatasaray, having picked up three victories and a draw from their first four games.

Southampton FC supporters will believe Paul Onuachu transfer agreement was still the right decision

Although it will frustrate supporters that Onuachu didn't showcase such goalscoring nous in Hampshire, those of a Saints persuasion aren't likely to show any sense of transfer regret regarding his departure, with that more likely to be shown in reference to the previous £18m sum parted with to secure a three-and-a-half year deal in the first place.

Onuachu's predicament is clearly yet another example of a striker finding an environment in which he is able to flourish, with Southampton rooted to relegation in both campaigns where he found himself as a regular starting option.

Still and his former teammates will certainly have moved on from the transfer agreement, as the 32-year-old looks to settle on his own first-choice striker having already chopped and changed between the likes of Adam Armstrong, Cameron Archer, Ross Stewart and Damion Downs in the first month of his tenure.