Trabzonspor President, Ertuğrul Doğan has revealed his regret over delaying the signing of Nigeria’s Super Eagles striker, Paul Onuachu from Southampton until the final moments of the Turkish summer transfer window.
Onuachu’s arrival has brought about a positive change in Trabzonspor’s performance.
Before Onuachu’s arrival, Trabzonspor had played four league games, winning two and suffering two losses, including a disappointing 2-3 home defeat against Rizespor.
Since the 29-year-old striker joined the team, Trabzonspor has won two out of three league games, with Onuachu notching goals in each of those matches and providing an assist.
According to reports from Fotospor, President Doğan has expressed his wish that they had secured Onuachu’s signing when he was first offered to the club back in July.
He believes that had Onuachu joined earlier, trained with the team, and integrated into the game system, many of the points they lost could have been avoided.
Mistake?
Onuachu’s name first surfaced on Trabzonspor’s radar in July, and he was also offered to Galatasaray at that time.
However, Galatasaray did not pursue the Nigerian striker due to other considerations, including the presence of Icardi.
President Doğan’s reliance on head coach Nenad Bjelica’s preference for Bruno Petkovic played a role in the delay.
Bjelica had expressed his priority for Petkovic and believed that he could convince Dinamo Zagreb to release him.
Trabzonspor even offered the Croatian striker a substantial salary increase. However, in the end, Petkovic remained with Dinamo Zagreb, while Trabzonspor successfully completed Onuachu’s signing.
This last-minute move has proven to be a stroke of inspiration, as Onuachu has impressively scored goals in each of his first three matches wearing the claret-blue jersey.
The former KRC Genk goal-machine will look to add to his goal tally when Trabzonspor trade tackles with Adana Demirspor this weekend.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
