Amadou Onana has settled into life at Aston Villa pretty nicely after his big-money transfer from Everton.
The 23-year-old was at a club where many things were going wrong on and off the field, from points deductions to managerial changes.
There was always the sense that Onana had a lot of quality in his locker, but it was just a case of showing it to the rest of the world and getting it out.
What is the fact that the Everton environment didn’t allow him to progress or did he just need a move to a more attacking team like Aston Villa?
Fast forward to the present and Onana has started pretty strongly under Unai Emery, even scoring goals for his side, he already has three to his name after netting four in 72 matches for the Toffees.
Ironically, his worst game came against his former side when Aston Villa produced a stunning comeback to beat Everton last month – Onana was hooked at the break after his mistake led to Everton’s opening goal.
Tim Sherwood has praised Villa for bringing in the all-action midfielder and how his transition has been ‘seamless’.
The former Villa boss pointed towards Youri Tielemans – Onana’s fellow countryman – as proof of why the club have done well to bring him in, with president of football operations Monchi and manager Emery also getting praise.
Given that Onana was involved in several relegation battles, it isn’t easy for a team, especially one in the Champions League, to then pay a club-record transfer fee for such a player.
Also bearing in mind that Douglas Luiz had left Villa to join Juventus and Emery knew he was going to be without long-term injury absentee Boubacar Kamara for the opening few months of the season.
Either way, whilst Onana enjoys himself in the colours of Claret & Blue, Sherwood brutally claimed how Everton fans thought he was just ‘bang average’, as he told Premier League Productions (29/09/24 at 1:50 pm).
Everton fans think Aston Villa’s club-record transfer Amadou Onana is ‘bang average’
“That attitude and that environment has been built by the man in charge (Emery),” said Sherwood. “They have given him the keys to the safe there at Aston Villa.
“They have very rich owners. They have brought in a sporting director in Monchi, who is identifying the players for him to work with.
“Onana has been fantastic. If you ask Everton fans ‘what Onana was like?’ They will say ‘he was bang average’. If you ask the Aston Villa fans now, because he is being developed as an individual player as well as a team player by the manager Unai Emery. Him and Tielemans, he knows they had a relationship with the Belgium national side. He has put them together. It’s seamless, the transition. He is a top draw the manager, top draw.”
Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara in midfield
Villa are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season and the defence is proving to be an issue during these opening few months.
But Kamara is back in training after his long-term injury, so that is a big plus point because he is going to make a world of difference in the middle of the park.
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You just wonder if Emery will play Kamara and Onana together because you could argue that it’s going to be needed to sort the defensive issues out.
Villa just haven’t looked the same without Kamara since he was out of action in February and his return couldn’t come quicker.
