Southampton has taken a significant knock from the club, as they regard a superb player as just one of many.

Southampton Heavily Criticised For Winger Pursuit

According to a report in Belgian media outlet Het Belang van Limburg, via Sport Witness, KRC Genk Head of Football Dimitri De Condé has criticized Southampton for their summer pursuit of winger Joseph Paintsill.

The Saints’ pursuit of the 25-year-old was highly publicized, with Genk willing to include Paul Onuachu in the deal. The striker has struggled since joining St Mary’s earlier this year, with only 22 minutes of play this season coming as a substitute in the 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Gillingham last month.

Before joining the then-Premier League team, the Nigerian international was a star at Genk, where he amassed 85 goals in 134 matches.

Talks between the two teams occurred when Southampton recognized Paintsil as a player who may assist them in meeting their goal of leaving the Championship at the first attempt. De Condé, though, was harsh in his evaluation of the talks, accusing the south coast team of going “a step too far.” The 48-year-old said in an interview;

I saw right away that include Paintsil in an exchange arrangement with Onuachu would be nearly impossible.

However, Southampton persisted till they went too far for me. Put Paintsil under pressure by directing him toward Southampton, such as by denying him a seat on the flight to Adana. I’m sorry, but that’s all I’m there for.In previous talks, Joseph had stated that he is happy where he is and does not consider Southampton as the next step in his career.

De Condé went on to say that he eventually had to switch to other targets, despite having sympathy for Onuachu;

I especially think it’s terrible for Paul, who is going through a very difficult period. But it became clear to us three days before the European deadline that we had to switch gears. We had different options, but of course the other targets didn’t just talk to us. Others were no longer allowed to leave.

After Onuachu’s incredibly successful stint in Belgium previous to moving to Southampton, Genk was eager to re-sign him. The Championship club has previously come under fire for their conduct in this transaction; just last month, they were charged with’moving the goalposts’ before the transfer window closed.

When Joseph Paintsil announced he wanted to back out of the agreement, everything appeared to be over. However, Genk plainly believed they still had time to work out a deal for Onuachu. Expect no direct moves between these two clubs in the near future.