Roberto Martinez has praised Amadou Onana after the Belgian midfielder completed a big-money move to Everton this week.
Everton have really started to ramp up their recruitment in recent weeks after a slow start to the window.
It looked like James Tarkowski, signed on July 1st, would be Everton’s only new signing ahead of the 2022-23 Premier League season.
Yet Kevin Thelwell has been getting deals done of late, bringing Ruben Vinagre, Dwight McNeil, Conor Coady and now Amadou Onana to Goodison Park.
Whilst Tarkowski, Vinagre, McNeil and Coady all know the Premier League well, Onana is something of a wildcard.
Roberto Martinez has praised Amadou Onana
Onana, 20, was a top target for West Ham and appeared to be nearing a move to East London last week before Everton hijacked the deal.
Onana was seen at Goodison Park for Everton’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea over the weekend and he completed his big move earlier this week.
Everton are paying big money for Onana; around £33.5million for the giant 6ft 5in midfielder.
This is hugely exciting but also a major gamble given Onana’s lack of senior football.
The Belgium international has only ever started 25 league games in his career across stints in Germany’s second tier with Hamburg and France’s top flight with Lille.
Everton are now betting big money on Onana, believing that he can become a Premier League star.
Onana’s rapid progress certainly lends itself to that belief, and one man who knows him well is former Everton boss Roberto Martinez.
Martinez handed Onana his international debut earlier this year and the Spaniard will now keep close tabs on his development at Everton.
Martinez spoke to Sky Sports about Onana earlier this morning and couldn’t speak highly enough about Everton’s new man.
The Belgium boss called Onana ‘really exciting’ and noted that the has the physicality and presence of former Toffees man Marouane Fellaini.
Martinez added that Onana’s character and leadership is rare for a player of his age, and even suggested that he can be like a young Patrick Vieira with his ability to drive through midfield, which will certainly excite Everton fans.
“Really exciting footballer,” said Martinez. “I know that sometimes when we speak about players, it’s very difficult to measure their potential. I think we are talking about a 20-year-old boy, who is probably one of the most talented at that age in European football, and that’s how excited we are in Belgium.”
“He’s got the physicality and the presence of a player that the Everton fans know very well in Marouane Fellaini. He can become anything in that central area, so I can understand the excitement around Everton – this is one of the most exciting prospects in European football at this present time.”
“I think it would be a shame if we speak only about his technical and tactical abilities. I think this footballer is quite unique in the way he is as a character; he is a leader, even as a young man, he is affecting others in the dressing room. He has got this incredibly maturity that is not normal to have at such a young age.”
“I am sure that the manager at Everton will use him in a more defensive role, or he can even be more of a box-to-box player, where he really uses his physicality. Off the ball, he is one of the most impressive young players with his capacity without the ball, the intensity, the way he can press, and then it’s that arrival into the box, sometimes he reminds you of a young Patrick Vieira in the way that he can drive with the ball.”
“That’s a young player, he’s going to be 21 next week, so you’re still talking about potential, but what is already there is the leadership and the captain material that he brings to Everton,” he added.
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