Adam Armstrong continues to be the main man up top for Southampton under Russell Martin, the proven Championship goalscorer is already into double figures for the Saints after 19 games played.
Southampton’s ever-reliable number nine has scored 12 goals in the second tier to date, the 26-year-old helping himself to brace last match against Cardiff City as the Saints romped home to a convincing 2-0 win.
It could be argued, however, that Martin’s men depend on Armstrong a bit too much to bail them out in tricky games.
Che Adams and Will Smallbone come in as the next joint top scorers for the Saints this campaign, but are way off Armstrong’s hefty tally with a paltry three goals.
Ross Stewart’s unfortunate time in a Saints strip to date hasn’t helped Southampton share out the goal load effectively either, the Scottish attacker joined the promotion hopefuls from Sunderland in the summer but reoccurring injuries have gotten in the way from him making an impact so far.
Martin could think outside of the box to end his ongoing quest of finding another clinical goalscorer therefore, Saints flop Paul Onuachu potentially returning from a fruitful loan spell out in Turkey ready to be gifted another opportunity to impress up top.
Paul Onuachu’s statistics at Southampton
Costing Southampton £18m last season from Genk, Onuachu was meant to the “significant signing” the Saints needed in their bid to mount a relegation escape, as per then-boss Nathan Jones – the Belgian striker hopefully firing in pivotal goals to help his new club stay afloat in the Premier League.
Instead, Onuachu would look out of his depth to the dismay of his new employers who felt ripped off.
The towering, 6 foot 7 striker is still goalless for the Saints, failing to find the back of the net in 12 appearances last season as Southampton sunk down to the Championship.
Folding on the big stage with the south coast club, Onuachu’s unerring ability to finish chances without flinching for his previous club Genk was nowhere to be seen in England – the 29-year-old scoring an impressive 85 goals from 134 appearances for the Belgian side.
The disregarded Southampton striker has found a new lease of life away from the club this campaign out on loan at Trabzonspor, finding his shooting boots again.
This spell out in Turkey to date could potentially save his career at St Mary’s from completely going down the drain, Martin watching on now with intrigue to see if Onuachu can keep up this newly found electric form.
Paul Onuachu’s statistics at Trabzonspor
Onuachu has amassed seven goals already out on loan, from just ten appearances to date for his new short-term club – with journalist Dean Jones hinting that he could be deserving of “another opportunity” back at St Mary’s at the end of the season.
Trabzonspor’s number 30 has managed to put away seven strikes despite only accumulating an xG of 4.39 playing in Turkey, as per Sofascore, helped by an outrageous strike finding the back of the net against Konyaspor last month.
Onuachu acrobatically connected with a cross into the area to catch the opposing goalkeeper off-guard, Trabzonspor thankful for their loanee’s moment of magic which allowed the team to get over the line and win 2-1.
Southampton fans will already be fantasising about Onuachu’s return to St Mary’s as a different beast, slotting effortlessly into the striker positions alongside the 5 foot 8 Armstrong to form a frightening partnership in attack – the old-school ‘little and large’ combination.
Yet, Saints fans have fallen victim to getting carried away about the ex-Genk “monster” before – as hailed by journalist Benjy Nurick – and they’ll opt to temper their expectations somewhat in case he fails to deliver again.
But, Martin will still have his fingers crossed that the £18m Southampton dud can return and become a deadly striker for the club after such a disappointing start to life in English football.
