BEVERLY HILLS, May 25, (THEWILL) – Fresh off picking up the two top awards in the Belgian Pro League, Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu immediately staved off controversy with English Premier League strikers preferring to avoid the awkwardness of being misunderstood in the midst of a fresh transfer season.
The imposing Racing Genk striker picked up two awards at the Belgian Pro League awards held in Brussels on Monday evening, which was expected given how he was heads and shoulders above every other forward throughout the league.
He beat the Austrian Raphael Holzhauser of Beerschot and the Dutchman Noa Lang of Club Brugge to the Player of the Year award of the 2020-2021 campaign, which is nothing less than his phenomenal 33 goals in 38 league matches deserve for the season.
That colossal return of goals meant that the giant of a striker also took home the Golden Boot for the most goals scored in the Pro League for the season. It accounted for Onuachu’s clinical form in front of goal that brought in a goal each in 18 games, which included six braces and one hat-trick, to cap a sensational 2020/2021 for the striker.
His prolific scoring range saw the FC Ebedei product on the score sheet in 25 different games with a goal return average of one goal in every 79-minute timeframe. This superlative goal-scoring performance was significant to Genk winning the Belgian Cup.
He, and teammate compatriot Cyril Dessers, produced the goods, scoring the important goals, that took Genk to a second-place finish in the league’s final table and resulted in their club qualifying for the third qualifying round of the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League.
All these have made the mercurial striker a hot attraction for many clubs sides in the top leagues across Europe and led Genk to pinning a substantial price tag on the player to profit from any transfer that may take place. His amazing performance has brought him to the brink of a big payday for his side.
Aware of the buzz around the formidable striker, the question has now turned to how soon he will be taken from the club and where will he be headed. When given the chance to answer by sports television channel Eleven Sports, the 26-year-old chose not to predict outcomes but once more expressed his love of English Premier League side Arsenal.
He explained, to clarify his position: “Even you, you have a club you support, everybody has that so I support Arsenal. I like watching them in the Premier League.”
When the reporter tried to tempt him into committing himself, one way or another, by suggesting that there could be room for him in the Arsenal frontline, with the probability of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving the club in the summer, he was diplomatic in his response.
Onuachu retorted: “I don’t think so. Right now I am a Genk player and I still remain Genk”.
The 6’7″ striker has been named in the Super Eagles final squad for the friendly against Cameroon next month, and will hope to continue his goal-scoring form in the Super Eagles lineup as he did in the last pair of AFCON qualifying matches for Nigeria while seeking out a transfer move to the big leagues in Europe.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
