When Paul Onuachu became one of Sport Republic's key signings of the 2023 January transfer window, he looked to all intents and purposes to be a very good signing.
Nathan Jones had just been recruited to manage the first team. In addition to Onuachu, he'd been bought a pacy new £22 million winger called Kamaldeen Sulemana, an Argentinian wonderkid called Carlos 'Charly' Alcaraz, Mislav Orsic, and Luton captain James Bree, to boost his chances of Premier League survival.
Of the five, only Alcaraz showed any promise. Jones failed. The team went down and all bar James Bree have since left the club. Bree is currently on a short-term loan at Charlton Athletic and is temporarily reunited with Jones at the Valley.
The only coach to get Onuachu scoring may surprise Saints fans
Meanwhile, Paul Onuachu was loaned to Turkish club Trabzonspor for the entire 2023/24 season while his parent club got on with the business of getting promoted back to the Premier League under Russell Martin.
After failing to score for Southampton in 14 matches, Onuachu netted 15 times in 21 league matches for his adopted Turkish side before returning to St Mary's for the doomed 2024/25 campaign.
To be fair to Onuachu, aka 'Tall Paul' on account that he is...well...tall, he did have a decent run of form under Ivan Juric. He scored four times in nine games. His headed goals at Nottingham Forest and at home against Crystal Palace gave Southampton fans an insight into how effective he could have been if used properly.
It was just a matter of time before Onuachu was sold over the summer. Returning to Trabzonspor, Onuachu has once again found his scoring boots. Already, he has scored 11 times in 14 matches for the third placed club.
A familiar face joins 'Tall Paul' in Turkey
Joining Onuachu this season is former Southampton Under-21 winger, Kazeem Olaigbe. The Belgian left winger, scored 19 times for the Saints Under-21s and registered 5 assists before signing for Cercle Brugge.
Over the course of fifteen months at Cercle, Olaigbe had done enough to be a regular starter and he was beginning to have an impact in games. He scored three times in the UEFA Conference League in 2024/25.
His good form earned him a short spell in Ligue 1 with Stade Rennais where two assists in 10 matches was deemed not good enough for the French club to want to keep him.
Now, the former Saints Academy winger has joined Onuachu in Turkey and he's getting some good minutes. He has started all apart from two of the 13 games, that he has featured in, this season and he has been an unused substitute once.
Despite having plenty of shots, Olaigbe has yet to score or provide any assists. It will be interesting to monitor his progress as time goes on.