Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana to face Everton: Unai Emery says midfielder can attain excessive degree after summer season switch | Soccer Information

Amadou Onana has already matched his greatest Premier League scoring season for Everton by getting the opening objective in every of Aston Villa’s two wins up to now. He has the possibility to make it three in opposition to his former membership at Villa Park on Saturday.

Onana’s £50m summer season swap was an intriguing one. Sean Dyche referred to as it “a business decision” resulting from Everton’s monetary scenario. However for Villa to interrupt their switch document advised they noticed rather more in him than he had proven at Goodison Park.

Former Everton participant Michael Ball summed up the temper amongst Everton supporters when describing the transfer for instance of the “wrong team at the wrong time” – even claiming Tim Iroegbunam, signed from Villa, has already proven greater than Onana did.

However there’s a recognition too that this can be a participant with a lot pure capability that the prospect of the now-23-year-old midfielder ultimately placing all the elements collectively – maybe discovering the proper group on the proper time – makes him too tantalising to disregard.

“We signed Amadou Onana because he is young and has big potential,” Unai Emery tells Sky Sports activities. “We believe in his potential.” The Villa boss can even consider that he’s a coach able to coaxing way more from a younger participant who continues to be studying the sport.

It has been a significant adjustment for Onana. In the course of the worldwide window, the Belgium worldwide spoke of the lengthy days, the prolonged coaching periods, the tactical element that he has needed to tackle board, one thing for which Emery has lengthy been infamous.

Apparently, whereas Dyche was speaking in his pre-match press convention of giving Iroegbunam area earlier than loading him with an excessive amount of data, Emery was at Villa’s coaching floor telling Sky Sports activities of the work that must be achieved to assist Onana.

Onana can get to a ‘excessive degree’

Even after their summer season tour of the USA, it’s a course of that has solely simply begun. The distinction between the participant Onana is true now and the one Emery thinks he might be is huge. “The gap is at the beginning big, bigger than we analysed,” he says.

“But we are confident to increase his level in this gap to get to the level where we can think of him as a very good player in the future. He is [already] a very good player but we think he can improve and get to a high level as a player and help us a lot in this way.”

Maybe it shouldn’t be a shock that the adjustment is critical. Onana has left the group that performed essentially the most lengthy balls within the Premier League final season for one which performed among the many fewest, solely 25 greater than short-passing consultants Manchester Metropolis.

Whereas away with Belgium, he mentioned: “Here we play more on possession. You usually stay on the ball a lot longer. Sean Dyche wanted to see more direct football. Long balls. A lot of second balls. In the national team, I get the ball more. It suits me a little bit better.”

Onana’s pass-completion price of 93.3 per cent with Villa is up from 84.9 per cent. It’s a crude statistic, early days certainly, but it surely hints at his capability to maintain possession, and whereas his objectives have attracted consideration, he has proven he can maintain the ball.

Potential to companion Kamara

Emery doesn’t see Onana as a direct substitute for Brazil worldwide Douglas Luiz, who has left for Juventus. “We added two players with the similar characteristics to Douglas,” he says. “Youri Tielemans last year and Ross Barkley this year.”

As an alternative, he argues that Onana has “more or less similar characteristics” to Boubacar Kamara, the fan-favourite midfielder presently out by means of harm. “We want two similar players in each position or players with the versatility to play different positions.”

Onana can do each as a result of Emery insists that the 2 may additionally line up alongside one another. “They can play together, Kamara and Onana. If we were thinking he could not play with Kamara, maybe it would not have been very easy to sign him,” he explains.

“But we are thinking with Kamara, with Ama, with Barkley and with Tielemans, they can play [in any combination of] two players or we could even play with three of them together in our structure that we have. Of course, we signed Enzo Barrenechea as well.

“He’s a younger participant who may develop effectively himself, enhancing and changing into essential for us. We determined to let him to go on mortgage and sooner or later we need to add him and for him to affix us, taking part in in our construction in addition to an essential participant.”

Everton check for Emery

That’s for the longer term. Extra instantly, there may be Everton at residence. Victory in opposition to Onana’s former membership on Saturday night, a primary of the season in entrance of their very own supporters at Villa Park, would make sure to transfer Emery’s aspect again into the highest 4.

The model of the 2 groups could also be completely different however Dyche has Emery’s respect. “Final 12 months, they got here right here to play within the Carabao Cup and so they beat us. They gained and so they deserved to win. I do know the coach, I do know the gamers. They’re very aggressive.

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“They are coming here needing points. They are going to play focusing 100 per cent on their characteristics as a team with the players, with the style that they have. But I respect them a lot. We have to try to focus ourselves as well on our game plan.

“We now have gained two matches however it isn’t sufficient. We now have to proceed enhancing.” It is a message for everyone ahead of this match. But it is a message relevant to their record signing, in particular. Onana is a talent. Emery wants him to be so much more.

Watch Aston Villa vs Everton live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm. Stream with NOW.