Liverpool pushed to sign Genk striker Onuachu

8 Sept 2021 08:45 BST
5 min read

Liverpool have been urged to sign Genk striker Paul Onuachu by the technical director of the Belgian side Dimitri de Conde.

This summer Jurgen Klopp decided against bolstering his forward line, as the only acquisition in the senior side was RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate.

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At the moment, the German seems content with his attacking roster which includes Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, and Diogo Jota primarily.

Depending on how Liverpool's fortunes pan out in the first half of the season, they could opt to add more firepower to the squad in January, and Onuachu has been mentioned as an ideal target.

Mane and Salah will also crucially miss a portion of the season due to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

"Did you see Liverpool against Chelsea? Liverpool have the best strikers, but none with the same profile as Onuachu," De Conde told Het Belang van Limburg.

"He would have scored against 10 men.

"I'm not saying that Paul would play 90 minutes every week in Liverpool, but a club like that could really use him."

Who is Paul Onuachu?

Onuachu could certainly be described as a throwback striker of sorts as, at six-foot-seven, he represents a truly towering presence up front.

His physicality often allows him to bully defenders but he is by no means a simple battering ram as his goalscoring record over the last couple of years is fantastic.

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In the 2019/20 season he started 17 league matches for Genk and scored nine goals, but he truly came into his own in 2020/21.

The Nigerian made 39 starts in all competitions and scored a fabulous 35 goals.

His tally of 33 goals in a single season was more than the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane managed.

In March of 2019 he made his debut for Nigeria and set the record for the fastest goal scored in the country's history, netting after 10 seconds against Egypt.

Team-mate Kenneth Omeruo has had this to say about Onuachu.

“My former coach [Javier Aguirre] who used to be the coach of the Egyptian team asked after him and said, ‘where is that boy’ because in his first game for Nigeria against Egypt in Asaba. He scored within a few minutes and we one,” Omeruo said.

“He is a very talented player, a difficult player to mark. I am a defender and I always don’t want to play against him in training. He is so huge and very strong. It is difficult to get a player like him.”