Nigeria international forward Paul Onuachu has been told he is surplus to requirements by the new coach of Southampton Russell Martin, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Martins replaced Ruben Selles following their relegation to the English Championship, and he has set about the task of lifting the team back to the English Premier League by making some very ruthless decisions.
Three days ago, the team were beaten 0-2 by Benfica in their first pre-season game, which officially marks the start of the reign of the new coach. In his squad there was no spot for lanky Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu.
Onuachu joined the team in January from Belgium side Genk, where he broke every available record for three seasons but he has found it really tough to replicate the same form in England.
He played 11 games and didn’t manage to find the back of the net even once as the team stumped to their first relegation in a decade. His future is now up in the air.
A squad of 26 players left for Turkey as part of their pre-season training but the Nigerian wasn’t included, the manager confirmed he is free to leave the team while clearing the air on players who weren’t part of the trip.
“We have a couple injuries which is why people are back where they are, nothing major at all,” Martin insisted.
“There’s no point bringing them here when they can get really good rehab there. They should all be available for next week. The squad is too big.
“We have added two players who are going to be brilliant for us. There will be people leaving.
“Whilst they are here, they have been brilliant – despite external stuff going on, the noise and what people’s agents want them to do or how they want them to behave”, he said on the absence of Onuachu and Armel Bella-Kotchap.
28 year old Onuachu is off interest to German Bundesliga side Stuttgart and contacts have been made in that direction, but the striker is wary of joining a team that will likely be in a relegation scrap like Southampton last season.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
