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By: Johnny Edward.
Striker Paul Onuachu can’t wait to get started at Trabzonspor after his new Turkish club paid €1.5m loan fee to complete his loan signing from Southampton, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Onuachu joined the Saints from Belgian club Genk in January for £18m but failed to find the net in 404 minutes across 11 Premier League appearances as they were relegated to the English Championship last season.
So far this season, the 29-year-old has been left out of Southampton’s match-day squads in the Championship, with his only appearance — coming on as a substitute in the Saints’ EFL Cup defeat against League Two side Gillingham.
Speaking on his move to Tranzonspor, the former Genk striker expressed delight at the huge number of fans at the airport, who welcomed him to the city of Trabzonspor.
The towering 6ft 7in striker was filmed outside of an airport with his wife, after landing in Turkey on Sunday wearing a Trabzonspor shirt and joining in celebration with supporters who had gathered to welcome him.
“You could see the welcome from the fans at the airport yesterday (Sunday), it was crazy,” Onuachu told the club website.
“It made me think ‘OK, this is really a football city. I’m really happy they came because it shows that they give a lot of support to the players here in Trabzon.
“It’s something you really don’t see anywhere else.
“The welcome was crazy. It shows that this is really a football city and to be honest I can’t wait to get started.
“We are here to fight for this badge, to fight for the championship, to reach our targets.
“I will do my best to score goals. I spoke to the coach. He said very nice things about the team and the club. I can’t wait to be with my team too.”
Onuachu, who has made 19 appearances for Nigeria and has scored thrice, becomes the fourth Nigerian to play for Trabzonspor after Anthony Nwakaeme, Ogenyi Onazi and Mikel Obi.
He started his career at Danish giants Midtjylland before moving to Genk.