Aston Villa are set to announce the signing of Amadou Onana from Everton, but is it the right hire?
Since offloading Douglas Luiz to generate funds to ease Aston Villa’s PSR concerns, Unai Emery has been on the hunt for a new midfielder.
While the Spaniard has recruited the likes of Ross Barkley and Enzo Barrenechea, there is still a Luiz-shaped void to be filled in the squad.
Monchi could be about to semi-fill such void by signing Amadou Onana however, Villa now look set to miss out on one target as a result.
Aston Villa likely to miss out on transfer target Conor Gallagher as Amadou Onana signing nears completion
Earlier in the summer, Villa were linked to Conor Gallagher, who is likely to leave Chelsea before deadline day.
The Blues want £50m for their academy graduate, who is set to enter the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge, adding fuel to speculation of a possible departure.
Villa aren’t the only club to have been credited with interest in the midfielder, with Tottenham now ahead of the Midlands side in the race the sign the 24-year-old.
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With Villa now on the verge of announcing the capture of Onana from Everton, the likelihood of signing Gallagher seems to have drifted, despite Emery being an admirer of the Englishman.
While the signing of the Toffees star is impressive for the defensive stability he can add to Emery’s squad, there are some reservations about his claim to replace the progressive mastery of Luiz.
Gallagher would have been the ideal target to replace Douglas Luiz
In Onana, Villa will sign one of the strongest defensive midfielders in the air within the Premier League.
For that reason alone, it’s a strong capture for the Midlands club, whose aerial frailties were noticed throughout the 2023/24 campaign.
- READ MORE: Unai Emery is about to solve a problem that makes Aston Villa ‘vulnerable’ by signing Amadou Onana
That being said, it could be argued that a replacement for Luiz has still not been identified, as the Belgian is more of a Boubacar Kamara than a player who fits the Brazilian’s creative profile.
Last season, Luiz contributed to 14 goals for Villa in the Premier League, scoring nine and assisting five, as well as being the club’s top creator in terms of his average of key passes per game, via WhoScored.
| Douglas Luiz | Conor Gallagher | Amadou Onana | |
| Goals | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Assists | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| Key passes p/g | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
| Big chances created | 10 | 11 | 4 |
| Passing accuracy | 89% | 92% | 85% |
| Successful dribbles p/g | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 |
For this reason, Gallagher could be considered the better target to fulfil what Villa will miss without Luiz in the squad, based on his form for Chelsea last term.
Gallagher was behind only Cole Palmer when it came to his average of key passes per game, with the midfielder also contributing to the goals for his club, just as the Brazilian did for Villa.
The 24-year-old is far more of an attacking presence in the engine room than Onana, as displayed in the table above, telling of why he could be deemed a more suitable target to replace Luiz.
Still, Monchi has hired a player that will help Villa defensively, as Onana is capable of patrolling the midfield as Kamara continues his recovery although, there remains a vacancy where Luiz once thrived.
