Paul Onuachu only joined Southampton in January for a huge £15.4million in a bid to save their season, which ultimately was unsuccessful.
The striker was tipped to be an instant hit at St Marys, however he failed to score any goals, while mustering up just 11 appearances for the Saints.
Undoubtedly the transfer was a failure, emphasised by Southampton‘s eagerness to ship him out in order to continue their rebuild.
He has therefore been linked with a move back to Genk in Belgium, but Southampton are unlikely to get much of their £15.4m back.
Onuachu had a great time at Genk previously scoring 85 goals, along with 10 assists in 134 games for then Belgians.
Genk interested in Onuachu return
Given his record for them during his four year-spell, it would have been easy to assume that Genk would be keen on his return.
Now, Genk manager Wouter Vrancken, has admitted he would welcome a return but only if the deal suits his side.
Speaking with Het Laatste Nieuws, Vrancken was asked if he would want Onuachu to return.
He said: “That depends on him, doesn’t it?” He continued
“He was sold for around €18m (£15.4m); I believe – I’m not aware of those numbers. The bottom line is that we don’t want to trade in that category, no.
“Bonsu Baah (£4.5m) was also a solid investment, but that’s about the limit for us. Antwerp and Club can go to double that.”
Therefore clearly if a deal is to materialise, Southampton would have to be willing to take a huge financial hit.
No more panic buys
When this transfer was announced in January, I am sure most Southampton fans also thought it screamed ‘panic buy’.
A striker who while being decent, never looked the level required to make a jump to Premier League football.
Now a huge loss appears inevitable all we can do is hope the club recruitment team have learned a lesson here.