Everton have been told they have secured a "sensational talent" in new midfielder Amadou Onana.
The signing of the 20-year-old from Lille was confirmed on Tuesday, with the Blues potentially parting with €4 million for the Belgium international.
The midfielder follows James Tarkowski, Ruben Vinagre, Dwight McNeil and Conor Coady through the door at Goodison Park in this window, with manager Frank Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell ramping up their efforts to improve the squad.
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Onana only joined the Ligue 1 club last summer and made just 11 top-flight starts. However, he left a huge impression domestically and in the Champions League, attracting the interest of West Ham United and then eventually Everton.
And speaking to The Blue Room podcast, French football journalist Julien Laurens said the acquisition is one Evertonians should be excited about.
"I'm as excited as you and I'm not even an Everton fan! So I want to see him here," Laurens said of Onana. "The good thing is that he really wanted to come to you and not go to West Ham or other Premier League clubs that were pushing for him. Because he's an incredible talent, there is no doubt.
"Whether he is a big success straight away or whether you have to wait a little bit - I don't know. But he's got all the qualities to succeed in England. I think English football suits him perfectly and he suits English football perfectly in the sense that he's good on the ball, he's strong, he's intelligent, he's powerful - he's a [Aurelien] Tchouameni, he's a Paul Pogba bracket of player.
"The difference maybe [to Pogba] is that he's a bit more defensive minded if you ask him to be, and do that kind of work. He's very happy, he's not reluctant to defend a lot. He can sit as the holding midfielder.
"You would lose a bit of what makes him quite special in the sense that he's got the power to do box-to-box, drive the ball and do things like that. But I think he can also be disciplined and be quite good defensively in 50-50s, in the air, in the duels, on the floor.
"All of that he can do, but I still feel his best role will be having a bit of freedom to run up and down the pitch."
While Everton parted with a significant amount to land Onana, more business is expected to be done in the coming days. One player tipped to join Idrissa Gana Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain, with the veteran midfielder set to return to Everton for a second stint after three years in the French capital.
At 32, Gueye has huge experience to call upon. And while Onana represents Belgium internationally, like Gana he was born in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. Laurens believes the senior of the two possible Toffees team-mates could play a big role in the development of the junior.
"An older brother!" he said. "I can imagine Idrissa taking him under his wing and being with him alongside on that journey that is going to be quite rocky. Let's be honest, I'm very excited and I think he's a really good signing but he's not going to turn into Kevin De Bruyne straight away. So I think at times it might be a bit rocky and I think it would be great for him to have Idrissa, to have [Abdoulaye] Doucoure - because Doucoure will play in exactly the same role - and I think when you're a new player discovering a new league, a new culture and a new country - all of that - it's very important to have those kinds of guys.
"For me this is also why the Gueye deal makes sense. He will have this role of an older brother to a lot of players in the squad... I can see Gueye, Doucoure and Onana working really well together in midfield."
Gueye had three successful years at Goodison Park before he made the switch to PSG in the summer of 2018.
Laurens believes that while there have been some high points for the dynamic midfielder at the Parc des Princes, overall his switch to the club was neither a roaring hit nor a dramatic flop.
"I think there's mixed feelings really around Gana," he said of his legacy in Paris. "In the sense that he's had some really good games at times, one especially against Real Madrid in the Champions League group stages - he looked amazing, the performance was incredible, PSG won 3-0 and it was really world-class.
"Then I think there is a feeling in Paris of - why can he not play at that level consistently over the whole season? Overall he was not a failure or a massive success either. He was somewhere in between."
Listen to the interview in full HERE.
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