Marc Degryse has criticized KRC Genk’s decision to sell Super Eagles forward, Paul Onuachu in the January transfer window while claiming Tanzanian goal-getter, Mbwana Samatta is not enough to fill his fellow attacker gap.
Onuachu cost the Premier League side £18 million during the January transfer window, but things have not turned around for the Saints who languishing at bottom of the table, as the Nigerian was yet to hit the ground running.
For Genk, a six-point gap against second-place Union Saint-Gilloise will be eaten up rather quickly if the Jupiler League leaders cannot immediately adapt to life without their talismanic top scorer.
“You should not underestimate the impact of selling Onuachu” Degryse, former Belgium international, argued in HLN. The former KRC Genk player noted: “He was the top scorer, he guaranteed 20 to 30 goals every year.”
Degryse added: “The competition will not mind Onuachu’s departure. Yes, this could cost Genk the title.”
Onuachu had, since the start of the 2020 season, scored 75 goals in 102 appearances for KRC Genk.
Seventeen of the Nigerian attacker’s goals were scored during the first half of this season.
Such statistics should hardly be compared to the ones belonging to Samatta, the man who will now step into Onuachu’s speedboat-sized shoes at the Luminus Arena, used for home matches by the Belgian side.
The former KRC Genk footballer noted: “Yes, Mbwana Samatta has not exactly been a regular starter since arriving on loan from Fenerbahce.
But, still, a tally of one goal in 19 games will not calm the concerns of Genk supporters fearing that Onuachu’s departure could, as Degryse predicts, ‘cost them the title’.
“You have to deal with Samatta because he is the starter now but he will not become Onuachu,” Degryse stated.
The former KRC Genk player said: “Things can still go wrong for Genk because, in the meantime, Union Saint-Gilloise has made further progress.”