Southampton were one of the clubs to be credited with an interest in KRC Genk star Joseph Paintsil this summer.
Last month, claims from Belgium talked about a swap deal involving the 25-year-old and Paul Onuachu but the operation never took shape because the Ghana international wasn’t keen on joining the Saints.
This claim is now confirmed by Dimitri De Condé during an interview with Het Belang van Limburg, and the Genk technical director admitted he knew from the beginning the swap deal involving Paintsil and the Southampton player wasn’t possible.
De Condé is also not pleased with the manner in which the Championship side approached to sign the winger.
“I immediately knew that it would be almost impossible to involve Paintsil in an exchange deal with Onuachu,” he said.
“But Southampton kept pushing until they went a step too far for me. We should put Paintsil under pressure: push him towards Southampton, for example by not taking him on the plane to Adana. Sorry, but I’m only there for that.”
Southampton’s failure to sign Paintsil had an impact on the Jupiler Pro League side’s efforts to sign Onuachu, and this has not pleased De Condé.
The 29-year-old Nigerian, who left Genk for the English club in January, was keen on returning to his former club. The newspaper states Russell Martin’s side kept on changing their demands to let go of Onuachu.
“I especially think it’s terrible for Paul, who is going through a very difficult period. But it became clear to us three days before the European deadline that we had to switch gears. We had different options, but of course the other targets didn’t just talk to us. Others were no longer allowed to leave,” De Condé explained.
Latest claims from Turkey have stated Trabzonspor are trying to sign the Southampton striker.
