Southampton manager Ruben Selles has defended Paul Onuachu’s slow start to life in the Premier League following his deadline day move in January from Belgian side, Genk.
Onuachu has featured four times in the Premier League, starting the last three but the 28 year old who scored 16 goals in 19 Jupiler Pro League games for Genk before the switch to England has neither scored nor provided any assist for his new club.
Southampton has lost three of the four games the Nigerian has played but Selles believes it is too early to start expecting a newcomer to the Premier League to start delivering.
‘Yeah, but again, we need to think that football is always a process. We need to think about Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen [Sulemana] as two players who are new in the Premier League and as soon as they arrive we throw them into the starting XI against Wolves and Chelsea. The Premier League is the best competition in the world so sometimes it takes time. It’s not easy to arrive and make an impact.
“Players like Joao Felix also needed time at Chelsea and they are players that play many Champions League matches and international matches. So sometimes we need to be careful as a club with how we analyse those things.’
‘I think Paul [Onuachu] will find his game, hopefully he’ll find it sooner. We need to give him the tools, the same with Kamaldeen. But it’s not that easy to come from any other league to the Premier League and perform from minute one, especially in the situation that we are in.’
Onuachu will be hoping to make his fourth straight start and score his first Premier League when Southampton host Leicester City at Saint Mary’s stadium on Saturday.
