Belgian side Genk have revealed some details of a negotiation they had with Southampton in the summer window.
Those were the talks for the transfer of Paul Onuachu, who had advanced talks for the move and ended up joining Turkish side Trabzonspor on a loan deal instead.
Genk’s Head Of Football Dimitri De Condé was interviewed by Het Laatste Nieuws. Quoted by Voetbal Nieuws, explained what went wrong when they were trying to land the striker.
He claims that the clubs were negotiating a swap involving Onuachu and Joseph Paintsil, and that collapsed in the end.
“There were price agreements in connection with the Paintsil-Onuachu swap. As I said, Joseph’s heart was in Genk,” Dimitri De Condé told Het Laatste Nieuws.
“I was certainly not going to force him to leave. So be it, we were willing to put the knocked-off amount on the table for Paul. It would be the most expensive incoming transfer in Genk’s history. “
He then revealed that Southampton also wanted another move involved in the deal, which was Aziz Ouattara’s move to Valenciennes, who had the same owners as the Saints.
“Everything seemed fine, but in 24 hours everything changed. It suddenly became times two and Aziz having to leave for France. Then we said: no way.”
That indeed sounds like a complicated situation, and it’s not hard to understand why it all collapsed in the end.
Onuachu is staying at Trabzonspor until the end of the season, and continues to have a contract with Southampton until 2026.
