Amadou Onana joined Aston Villa from Everton this summer and the Belgian has now revealed the ‘perfect’ reason he chose Villa over every other club.
Unai Emery and Monchi have been extremely busy in this transfer window. Initially, they had to make sufficient sales to avoid breaching PSR at Aston Villa and move on with their plans.
That has seen the Spaniard invest heavily in his squad, including the addition of Amadou Onana, who arrived from Everton for £50 million.
Onana isn’t a direct replacement for midfield metronome Douglas Luiz, who joined Juventus, but he is a powerhouse and will add significant strength and athleticism to the engine room.
Ahead of a campaign in the Champions League, Villa need players who can meet the demands physically and standing at 6 foot 5, the 22-year-old is a man mountain.
Villa weren’t the only club chasing his signature, as Emery beat former side Arsenal and Chelsea to the signing, with Onana now revealing the major factor behind his decision.
Amadou Onana reveals why he joined Aston Villa over Arsenal and Chelsea
For the first time in decades, the Villans can use the pull of Champions League football to attract players to the club.
It’s also a competition that can give them the edge over their rivals in negotiations as clubs such as Tottenham and Chelsea don’t have the luxury of playing in Europe’s elite competition.
For Onana, it’s more than just playing in the Champions League that attracted him to Villa Park, as he described Emery as ‘one of the most skilled coaches out there’, who can help him reach the ‘next level’.
The Belgian international told Nieuwsblad: “They just had a fantastic season with that fourth place. This environment seemed to me the most conducive to my development and the fact that I can work with Unai Emery, one of the most skilled coaches out there, also played a role. I can learn a lot from him.
“He can help me to reach the next level. I have always attached great importance to the objective of constantly improving. This is the perfect step. We have calculated and analyzed everything, I am where I should be.”
Onana dubbed transferring to Villa as the ‘perfect step’ and judging by the improvements of several current stars, it certainly is.
Unai Emery can take Onana to the next level
For Everton in the Premier League last term, Onana made 30 appearances, primarily as a defensive midfielder, held back by Sean Dyche’s system.
The Belgian powerhouse ranked inside the top 13% of top-flight midfielders for tackles and the top 5% for aerials won but at Villa, there will be less reliance on his work defensively and more focus on what he brings in an attacking sense.
Last term, Onana ranked low for progressive carries and successful take-ons however, given his frame and physical attributes, Emery will want to use him as a ball-carrying machine.
As one of two central midfielders, he will be allowed to drive forward with the ball and wreak havoc in the final third.
It’s a luxury that Dyche didn’t let him have at Goodison Park, and while it’s an area of his game he can improve on, Emery has the coaching expertise to drag him up to the next level.
After all, it’s something he’s already achieved with striker Ollie Watkins and winger Leon Bailey, so he’ll be desperate to use that blueprint on Onana.
