Everton ready £17.5m bid for Genk striker Paul Onuachu for deadline day deal

By Daniel Feliciano

31st Jan, 2023 | 10:57am

Everton are preparing a bid worth up to £17.5m to sign striker Paul Onuachu in a deadline day transfer from Genk, according to FootMercato.

The Toffees want a striker to help solve their goalscoring problems this season, while they need a replacement for Anthony Gordon who was sold to Newcastle last week too.

And after Sean Dyche was appointed as manager replacing Frank Lampard, Everton are now looking to move quickly in the market by signing the top scorer in the Belgian Jupiler League this season.

“Everton and Southampton are ready to pay a sum between 15 (£13.1) and 20M€ (£17.5m) for Onuachu who wants to join the Premier League,” journalist Santi Aouna wrote on his personal Twitter account (31 January).

“But the Genk striker is blocked by his club, which had nevertheless promised him an exit voucher.”

Hitman

Everton needs goals, and Onuachu scores goals. That could be a shrewd bit of business for the Toffees.

Onuachu has hit 79 goals in the Jupiler League in Belgium since signing for Genk back in 2019, and has consistently hit the heights for his team.

At over 2 metres tall, he meets the target man requirements that we all know Dyche loves in his team, and his ability to hold up play and bring others into the game is also a key element to his style.

A front two of Onuachu and Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be a real nuisance to any defence it comes up against and has got goals in it if it can stay fit.

The fee seems reasonable too considering he has just 18 months remaining on his contract in Belgium, but considering the timing of the bid and interest we may have to pay a premium to get the deal over the line before tonight’s deadline.