Southampton striker Paul Onuachu has arrived in Turkey and will have a medical on Sunday ahead of a proposed loan move to Trabzonspor.
Onuachu joined Southampton in January following an £18million move from Genk but was unable to prevent their relegation from the Premier League and his only appearance this season came in the EFL Cup at Gillingham.
With Saints signing striker Ross Stewart from Sunderland and keeping Che Adams, manager Russell Martin is happy to let 29-year-old Onuachu leave.
The Nigerian bagged nearly a goal-a-game at Belgian side Genk, and appeared in the Champions League and Europa League, but is leaving Saints without scoring or registering an assist.
Onuachu was signed by former Saints boss Nathan Jones, but never really settled on the south coast.
The six-foot-six inch tall striker made 12 appearances for Southampton and will join Trabzonspor who currently sit seventh in the Turkih Super Lig.
Saints have already received £140million by selling James Ward-Prowse to West Ham, Tino Livramento to Newcastle and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea.
The Turkish transfer window is open until September 15 allowing English clubs to offload surplus players before naming their 25-name squads.
Trabzonspor also signed failed January signing Mislav Orsic from Saints earlier in the window but the Croatian international suffered a serious injury in training.
The ambitious Turkish side also signed Nicolas Pepe from Arsenal on Friday.
Peseiro: “I have faith in him” – Super Eagles coach on Aribo’s call-up from Southampton
Jose Peseiro was interviewed on Saturday, ahead of Nigeria’s dead-ball 2023 AfCF qualifying clash against São Tome and Principe. Of the questions he wne oas asked by journalists was about one of his players. Joe Aribo had a difficult time finding first-team opportunities at Southampton at the end of last season, and his situation remains the same as it was in the previous
campaign. The versatile midfielder has played 77 minutes out of a possible 540 since the start of the season. Peseiro called Aribo up for the game with São Tomé. Although Peseiro has several attacking options, the same can’t be said for the midfield, which is why Alex Iwobi is being used as a deep-lying full-back in the 2023 AfCF qualifiers.
Peseiro said he trusts Aribo’s potential despite his lack of playing time at the club. “I wouldn’t say he plays too much, but I have faith in him,” he said. “I think some of the players have quality and potential even if they don’t play in the club.” Peseiro said Aribo didn’t get much game time, but he still played. “My staff and I watch 40 to 50 games each weekend, and then in the
middle of the week when they play in UEFA competitions, we watch them on the TV live. If Aribo is here, he’s in good shape to play for us.” According to reports, Aribo was a top-tier Italian Serie A club interested in signing him in the recent transfer window, but Southampton didn’t approve the move.
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