Paul Onuachu: 22 goals last season, 3 so far, yet Trabzonspor rise

Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu has three goals and one assist for Trabzonspor this season, a sharp drop from the 22 league goals that shared him the Süper Lig scoring crown last term, yet the Black Sea club go into the international break second in the table.

Trabzonspor have 25 points after six straight league wins under head coach Thomas Reis, and Turkish outlet Fanatik, which counted the figures on Friday, says 11 different players have scored for them.

Egyptian Mohamed Salah, a summer arrival, leads the way with 11 goals and five assists. Franculino Dju has seven goals, and Albanian Ernest Muçi has three goals and seven assists.

From Golden Boot to one of many

Onuachu's 2025-26 season was the best of his career. He finished joint top scorer in the Süper Lig with 22 goals, level with Başakşehir's Eldor Shomurodov, and scored 36 per cent of Trabzonspor's league goals, according to Fanatik.

He did it despite going his last six league games without a goal, and he became only the third foreign player to finish as Trabzonspor's top scorer, after Şota Arveladze and Alexander Sørloth.

He is not the only Nigerian contributing this season. Compatriot Chibuike Nwaiwu has a goal and an assist from defence, and the defender's form has already drawn a reported €30m-plus price tag.

Analysis: a striker no longer carrying the team

The numbers tell two stories at once. Last season Trabzonspor leaned on Onuachu for more than a third of their league goals; this season the load is shared so widely that last season's top scorer is joint third on the club's list while the team climbs.

That is good news for Reis and less comfortable for Onuachu. A target man thrives on service and minutes, and with Salah on 11 goals already, the focus of the attack has shifted.

It also matters for Nigeria. Onuachu is not among the six forwards in Eric Chelle's squad for the Tanzania double-header, and a return to last season's scoring rate would be the clearest way to change that.

The Süper Lig resumes after the international break, with Trabzonspor chasing the title and Onuachu chasing the goals that made him the league's joint top scorer last season.