Amadou Onana is an Aston Villa player and fans are loving every bit of their new midfield summer signing.
From the moment Onana joined Villa from Everton, there was a buzz about his signing and how he could prove to be a pivotal player for the team.
Unai Emery largely played the same players who were available to him last season against West Ham on Saturday evening, other than handing Onana a debut and he didn’t disappoint.
Yes, Onana’s goal will get the headlines because it was a thunderous header after four minutes, but his overall play was very encouraging.
Douglas Luiz waved an emotional goodbye to Aston Villa this summer after he joined Juventus and Ian Wright labelled him as a ‘pivotal’ player.
On one hand, Aston Villa‘s new boy is replacing the Brazillian in the middle of the park and also the defensive-minded and currently injured, Boubacar Kamara.
Wright delivered his verdict on Onana and how he was ‘very, very good’ in the middle of the park – he was awarded Man of the Match by Sky Sports.
The former striker highlighted the 22-year-old replacing Luiz and the impact he made in his first game for the club.
Wright admitted that, at Everton, he liked what he saw from Onana, but in the colours of Villa, he looks ‘even more impressive’, as he told Premier League Productions (17/08/24 at 7:30 pm).
Amadou Onana’s debut performance
“Coming in to replace Douglas Luiz, as that pivotal player and showing he can get into the box and score,” said Wright.
“I thought he was very, very good. Some performances I have seen him put in for Everton, he was impressive and he was even more impressive today with good players around him. What stood out for Villa even more was the substitutions that come on. They all made a difference. Duran, Ramsey and even Maatsen on that left-hand side. They look like a really good team once they get oiled up.
“Debut away from home, scoring and winning. The away fans are always the ones and he was giving them some love (fist-bumping to the Villa fans) and it was nice to see.”
Aston Villa’s summer transfer window
It has been a fairly busy transfer window for Villa and you feel more business could be concluded before the window slams shut at the end of the month.
Villa could offload Alex Moreno, with the left-back now behind Lucas Digne and summer signing Ian Maatsen for a starting spot.
READ MORE: Unai Emery explains why Cameron Archer has left Aston Villa to join Southampton
Whilst Diego Carlos’ future hangs in the balance, those could be the outgoings, but don’t forget potential incomings.
Aston Villa have a major problem to resolve amid Lutsharel Geertruida transfer links, with the Feyenoord captain able to play at centre-half and right-back.
