Trabzonspor Technical director Sadi Tekelioğlu has pointed at the absence of Paul Onuachu as the number one reason why the club exited the Europa League this week, Soccernet.ng reports.
While on loan from Southampton, Onuachu was Trabzonspor's top goalscorer last season as the club finished in third position in the Turkish Super Lig.
However, every attempt Trabzonspor have made this summer to sign the Super Eagles striker permanently has failed with Southampton insisting on recuperating a significant portion of the €18 million they paid to acquire him from KRC Genk in January 2023.
The club missed Onuachu big time during their two-legged tie against Rapid Vienna in the 3rd round of the Europa League qualifiers.
Despite creating several scoring chances, Trabzonspor failed to find the net as the Claret-Blue team lost 0-1 at home before falling to a 2-0 second-leg defeat in Wien.
Disappointed by the results, Trabzonspor director Sadi Tekelioğlu insists the delay in signing Onuachu played a major role in the club's Europa League elimination.
“Remember. We used to say in every broadcast; this team can be without a coach but not without Onuachu,” Tekelioğlu said, as per KG.
“What we said came true. Onuachu’s absence was clearly seen in both Rapid matches. If the Onuachu transfer had been made early, Trabzonspor would now be making calculations for the Europa League play-off round.
“Since Onuachu was the first priority. In that case, you would not have bought Draguş, you would have bought Onuachu directly. There is a serious planning error in the transfer.”
Meanwhile, Southampton do not appear impressed by Trabzonspor's latest bid to sign Onuachu as the Saints look to unleash the Nigerian striker on their return to the Premier League.
Southampton have assigned Onuachu jersey number 32 ahead of their first league clash this weekend.
