KRC Genk Technical Director Dimitri De Conde has spoken out on the collapsed deal involving Ghanaian winger Joseph Paintsil to Southampton.
The speedster was heavily linked with a transfer move to Southampton in the English Championship from the Belgian Jupiler Pro League team.
However, the deal fell through and the move was called off; the 25 year old Paintsil has a goal and three assists in 10 games in all competitions this season.
Speaking in an interview with Het Belang van Limburg, De Conde pointed out a proposed exchange involving Paintsil and Paul Onuachu also didn’t work out. Onuachu joined Southampton from Genk in the January transfer window of the 2022-2023 season.
“I immediately knew that it would be almost impossible to involve Paintsil in an exchange deal with Onuachu but Southampton kept pushing until they went a step too far for me.”
Paintsil had a breakout 2022-2023 season where he scored 18 goals and added 14 assists to his tally in 39 games as Genk made a strong push for the Jupiler Pro League title Royal Antwerp ended up winning.