Everton dodge bullet as former target Paul Onuachu leaves Southampton after only eight months
Everton have seemingly dodged a bullet after Paul Onuachu joined Trabzonspor, having been linked with the Toffees in January, according to Joe Thomas.
The Liverpool Echo reporter took to Twitter on Monday (11 September) to react to the transfer of the Nigerian striker who was linked with a move to Goodison Park in the “crazy final days of the January transfer window” before joining Southampton instead.
But after only eight months on the south coast, the forward has agreed a temporary switch to the Turkish club having only made 12 appearances for Southampton and failing to score or assist in the Premier League, while he has not even featured for them in the Championship this term.
Everton were offered the then Genk striker on deadline day in the winter transfer window after he had impressed in the Belgium Pro League as they looked for a new forward [Daily Mail, 31 January], only for Southampton who were up against the Toffees at the bottom of the table to sign him instead.
If there is one thing Everton will have been happy to avoid at the moment it will be another failed striker signing as the budget at Goodison Park has already been stretched as they battle to comply with financial limitations and they are in no position to be throwing money away.
Everton did desperately need goals as they aimed to avoid relegation last season, but with the resources already in place at Goodison they were able to scrape out of the bottom three on the final day of the season and confirm their place in the top flight for another campaign.
By the looks of Onuachu’s spell in England, it is unlikely that he would have fired Sean Dyche’s side to safety anyway, having drawn a blank in every outing on English soil before quickly finding a way out of St Mary’s through a temporary switch to Turkey.
Everton will be hoping that the signing of Beto this season will bring them more success than Southampton had with their new centre-forward, as despite the Toffees finding a stroke of luck to avoid Onuachu they do remain short of goals.
The early signs suggest they have got their hands on a slightly better forward in Beto, who has already managed to break his duck in England with his strike in Everton’s 2-1 win over Doncaster in the Carabao Cup.
In other Everton news, Jordan Pickford believes the Toffees have turned a corner under Sean Dyche this season