Trabzonspor have launched an all-out bid to get Paul Onuachu back for Sunday's crunch clash with Basaksehir after the 22-goal Super Eagles forward sat out the 1-0 defeat at Alanyaspor that left the Black Sea club four points adrift of leaders Galatasaray.
An MRI scan confirmed a thigh-muscle problem for the 1.98 m striker, who has not played since the injury flared up. Without him, Abdullah Avcı's side have managed only one win in four league outings, a sequence that has stalled their championship push.
Coach Fatih Tekke has told the club's medical staff to throw everything at getting the 29-year-old Nigerian ready for the Başakşehir fixture, aware that another slip could end their title hopes with five rounds left. Onuachu, signed from Southampton in February, has hit 12 goals in 14 Süper Lig appearances and his aerial presence has become the focal point of Trabzonspor's attack.
The former Genk man is undergoing intensive treatment at the club's Mehmet Ali Yılmaz facilities, with fitness coaches working twice-daily shifts to reduce the inflammation in his right thigh. Club doctors will make a final call after a Friday training session.
Trabzonspor have not won a league crown since the memorable 2021-22 season and know defeat on Sunday would leave Galatasaray needing just two victories from their remaining fixtures to retain the title.
Onuachu's absence has exposed Trabzonspor as a one-trick pony; a club that spent big yet still cannot function without a single target man. Four points dropped in four games without him is relegation-form, not title-form.
Tactically, Tekke has no Plan B. The crosses that once found the Nigerian's forehead now sail harmlessly out or into the keeper's gloves, and opponents have simply squeezed the pitch, knowing no aerial threat exists. If the medical team gamble and starts a half-fit Onuachu, they risk a re-tear that could rule him out of the final sprint; if they hold him back, the title race is virtually over before May.
For Nigerian fans, the situation is double-edged. Onuachu's 22-goal season puts him in pole position for a Nations Cup starting shirt, but rushing back from a thigh strain has cost Super Eagles strikers before—think Ighalo in 2016. Finishing the season healthy is more valuable than a heroic cameo in a derby that may already be a dead rubber.
Watch the Friday training footage like a hawk: if Onuachu completes full-speed sprints, Trabzonspor's medical gamble becomes the story of the weekend; if he doesn't, Galatasaray can start engraving the trophy.
💡 NaijaBuzz is a news aggregator. This content is curated and editorially enhanced from third-party sources. The NaijaBuzz Take represents editorial opinion and analysis, not established fact.
