Aston Villa are reportedly in the process of completing the formalities of the signing of Amadou Onana from Everton, with his medical scheduled.
The 22-year-old represented Belgium at EURO 2024 over the past month and so he is currently on holiday as he looks to rest, recharge and prepare for the new campaign.
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While ideally we’d be able to get any new signings into Bodymoor Heath as soon as possible to begin pre-season training with Unai Emery and his coaching staff, it appears as though we’ll have to wait for Onana to join up with the group, as he’ll wrap up his transfer in the coming weeks.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Belgian midfielder will undergo his medical as soon as he returns from holiday, while the two clubs are said to be preparing documents to register his move, which will be worth £50m plus add-ons, and a sell-on clause is included in the agreement.
It’s a significant investment from Villa and so it’s a huge show of faith in Onana’s ability and future potential, as Emery undoubtedly will believe that he can help develop and improve his game to become a fundamental player for us in the coming years.
Onana has impressed during his stints with Everton and Lille, and particularly with our need to add more defensive midfield quality and to become more physical, imposing and athletic to dominate in that area of the pitch on a more consistent basis, he’ll hopefully be a major influence for us, if the transfer goes through as expected.
With Boubacar Kamara still sidelined by injury, it will be interesting to see what combination Emery prefers when the new campaign gets underway, with Onana potentially joining a group consisting of Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Ross Barkley and Enzo Barrenechea.
It’s felt that Villa may well still opt to bring in another new signing in that department with the emphasis on creativity and being our playmaker in midfield to complement our other options, and so it’s an exciting time to see what Emery has planned and how he will continue to develop, adapt and implement his preferred structure and style of play.
