Amadou Onana joined Everton from French side, Lille in the summer transfer window for a fee believed to be in the region of £32 million. Due to the blue’s ongoing financial constraints, the deal is said to be spread out over a number of years, with the club paying a set amount on an annual basis.
Despite only being 21 years of age, Onana has already played in 3 of Europe’s top 5 leagues, playing for Hoffenheim and Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga, LOSC Lille in Ligue 1 and now Everton in the Premier League. Since coming to England in the summer, the Belgian has already made 8 appearances, 7 of which being in the League, even grabbing himself an assist for Conor Coady in the blue’s last game, a 2-1 win against Southampton at Saint Mary’s Stadium.
Since the recent return of Idrissa Gana Gueye from PSG, Onana has found himself in a midfield 3 as a box-to-box midfielder along with Alex Iwobi, who finds himself with a rejuvenated career on Merseyside.
Due to the quality of his recent performances, Amadou was called up for the Belgian National team by former Everton boss, Roberto Martinez for their run of matches in the UEFA Nations League. The midfielder made his first start for the ‘Red Devils’ in their 1-0 loss to the Netherlands. Onana put in a valiant performance, with Martinez having some very high praise for him.
Martinez stated in a recent interview with RTBF: [via HNL.bc]
“He has adapted very well. Amadou now plays in the Premier League, which will only make him even stronger.
Everton have had a large amount of success with Belgian players in recent years, with the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas having had successful careers for the blues. When Amadou joined the club, there were a lot of comparisons made to former Belgian blue, Marouane Fellaini, given both his positional play and his size. Roberto Martinez also picked up on this connection, adding:
“He has physical qualities that we haven’t seen since Fellaini. He is also a leader. Despite his age – he is only 20 – he already has a lot of experience. Amadou has already played in three top European leagues. That’s ‘special’. He’s a very useful player.”
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