Amadou Onana was by far the biggest signing Everton made last summer but with his club’s Premier League status on the line the midfielder now needs to produce the kind of performances to match both his stature and £33.5million price tag.
At almost 6ft 5in, most of Onana’s team-mates look up to him but while he’s head and shoulders above many others within the Blues side and undoubtedly a precocious talent, he remains a novice at this level and sometimes it shows. Back in February, shortly after Sean Dyche’s arrival, Steven Defour, now head coach of his home city club Mechelen, told the ECHO how he was mentoring fellow Belgian Onana about how to become a better all-round Premier League midfielder after being sounded out by his former Burnley boss and, although he identified the intelligent 21-year-old as a keen student, it seems as though he still has plenty to learn.
Onana’s presence in the engine room was sorely missed when he missed Everton’s games against Fulham and Crystal Palace with a groin injury. But any hopes that he’d be back bossing the midfield when he returned against Newcastle United were dashed as despite a few nice touches, particularly early on – the kind of moments that look good in highlight reels but bring little in terms of influencing the game – he was quiet before making way for Neal Maupay on 73 minutes, with his biggest flashpoint being a reckless booking (his eighth of the season) shortly before the break for a tug on Bruno Guimaraes’ shirt. An examination of Onana’s display on Comparisonator paints a clearer picture of just what his display was like.
