Paul Onuachu

Ebere Paul Onuachu listen (born 28 May 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Southampton and the Nigeria national team.[1]

Paul Onuachu
Personal information
Full name Ebere Paul Onuachu[1]
Date of birth (1994-05-28) 28 May 1994
Place of birth Owerri, Nigeria[1]
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 12
Youth career
Ebedei
2012 Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2019 Midtjylland 134 (51)
2015 → Vejle (loan) 13 (5)
2019–2023 Genk 114 (79)
2023– Southampton 7 (0)
International career‡
2019– Nigeria 18 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:57, 2 April 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:08, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Onuachu moved to Danish club FC Midtjylland in 2012, on a scholarship, from their affiliate team in Nigeria, Ebedei.[2] He was a prolific scorer for their youth team, and made his first-team debut in the Cup later that year, before making his league debut in December 2012.[2] In June 2013 he signed a new three-year contract with the club,[3] before extending it for a further three-years in August 2015.[4] In early 2015 he was loaned to Vejle BK, before returning to FC Midtjylland ahead of the 2015–16 season.[5]

In August 2019 he signed for Belgian club Genk.[6]

On 1 February 2023, Onuachu signed for Premier League club Southampton on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[7][8] On 4 February 2023, Onuachu made his first Premier League appearance for Southampton in a 3–0 defeat against Brentford, replacing Mohamed Elyounoussi at half-time.[9]

International career

Onuachu was called up to the Nigeria under-23 national team in February 2015.[10] In March 2019 he received his first call-up to the Nigerian senior team.[11]

On 26 March 2019, Onuachu scored his first goal for Nigeria in a friendly match against Egypt. The goal was scored within the first ten seconds of the game, and the fastest ever scored for Nigeria.[12] Following the goal Onuachu was heralded as the "toast of Nigerian football", with "his coach, team-mates, journalists and fans talking about him".[13] He was selected to the Nigeria squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[14] He played in Nigeria's 1–0 win over Burundi.[15]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 April 2023[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Midtjylland 2012–13 Danish Superliga 1010——20
2013–14 Danish Superliga 11010——120
2014–15 Danish Superliga 1012220—143
2015–16 Danish Superliga 25621102—379
2016–17 Danish Superliga 35173362114523
2017–18 Danish Superliga 22103364—3117
2018–19 Danish Superliga 30174362—4022
Total 13451161230101118174
Vejle (loan) 2014–15 Danish 1st Division 13500——135
Genk 2019–20 Belgian Pro League 2291150—2810
2020–21 Belgian Pro League 383332——4135
2021–22 Belgian Pro League 352100721[lower-alpha 1]04323
2022–23 Belgian Pro League 19163100002217
Total 11479741221013485
Southampton 2022–23 Premier League 7000——70
Career total 2681352316421221335164
  1. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup

International
As of match played 24 March 2023[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 201971
202020
202172
202210
202310
Total183
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Onuachu goal.
List of international goals scored by Paul Onuachu[16]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
126 March 2019Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Nigeria Egypt1–01–0Friendly
227 March 2021Stade Charles de Gaulle, Porto-Novo, Benin Benin1–01–02021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
330 March 2021Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria Lesotho3–03–02021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Midtjylland[17]

Genk

Nigeria

Individual

References
  1. Paul Onuachu at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  2. "Profile" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  3. "FCM forlænger med unge boblere" (in Danish). Bold. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  4. Martin Dons (4 August 2015). "FC Midtjylland forlænger med Onuachu" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  5. Kenneth Jensen (16 October 2015). "FCM-træner: Angriber kan blive et af FCM's største salg nogensinde" (in Danish). Tipsbladet. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  6. "Officielt: Onuachu slutter sig til Joakim Mæhle". bold.dk.
  7. "Saints seal Onuachu deal". Southampton FC. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. "Kamaldeen Sulemana: Southampton pay club-record £22m for Rennes winger". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  9. Rindl, Joe (4 February 2023). "Brentford 3–0 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  10. Kolade Oni (17 February 2015). "Siasia picks 21 players for Gabon game". Tipsbladet. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  11. Oluwashina Okeleji (4 March 2019). "John Mikel Obi: Nigeria captain left out of Super Eagles squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  12. "Nigeria's fastest international goal helps them beat Egypt". BBC Sport. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  13. Oluwashina Okeleji (27 March 2019). "The spotlight in Nigeria falls on Paul Onuachu after his 10 second goal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  14. "AFCON 2019: Onuachu happy to make Super Eagles squad". 16 May 2019.
  15. Silas, Don (23 June 2019). "Nigeria vs Burundi: Why I didn't start Ighalo in Super Eagles' 1-0 win - Rohr". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  16. "Paul Onuachu". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  17. "Soccer-Dal Hende fires Midtjylland to Danish title". Reuters. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  18. "Onuachu with an assist as Genk clinch Belgian Cup title after Standard Liege win". Goal. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  19. "Tunisia 0–1 Nigeria". BBC. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  20. "Paul Onuachu: Nigeria striker scoops two awards in Belgium". BBC. 25 May 2021.
  21. "Topschutter Paul Onuachu is verkozen tot Profvoetballer van het Jaar". SPORZA. 25 May 2021.
  22. "Paul Onuachu verslaat Club-duo Lang en De Ketelaere voor Gouden Schoen". SPORZA. 12 January 2022.
  23. Africa Facts Zone [@AfricaFactsZone] (28 August 2021). "Paul Onuachu and Clinton Mata were included in the 2020/2021 Belgian Jupiler Pro League Golden Eleven" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via Twitter.
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