Shortly before completing his move to Everton from Lille in the summer of 2022, French football expert Julien Laurens was keen to let The Toffees fans know just what sort of a player they were getting in young Amadou Onana.
Standing at 6ft 4ins, it would have been all too easy to assume similarities between the broad-shouldered Belgian and his former Everton compatriot Maraouane Fellaini.
Amadou Onana, however, was not so much Fellaini 2.0 – all elbows and flick-ons – but something a little more well-rounded. A little more, let’s say, stylish.
“He’s a very exciting player,” Laurens told ESPN. “For me he’s a great box-to-box because he’s powerful. He’s good on the ball, he’s tall, he’s strong, he will drive the ball very well.”
“He’s very much like a (Aurelien) Tchouameni, or a Paul Pogba.”
Have Everton found another Amadou Onana?
What Fellaini brought to the table in terms of physicality and aerial prowess, he was often found wanting when it came to ball-carrying and distribution. Especially once he made that move to Manchester United and found himself having to deal with the pressure and the limelight that goes hand-in-hand with life at Old Trafford.
While Onana has remained refreshingly loyal to an eternally-embattled Everton side so far, even the most optimistic Toffees supporter would be forgiven for taking an ‘enjoy him while we can’ approach to a man reportedly on the radar of United, Arsenal and co.
One things for sure, if or when he does depart, he will take some replacing.
But with HITC Football having been informed that Everton are keeping tabs on Club Brugge’s Raphael Onyedika, perhaps that process – that succession plan – is already underway.
At 6ft, Onyedika is not quite as tall or rangy as the sky-scraping Onana. But it’s interesting to note that, when asked to describe his own style in conversation with Voetbal Nieuws back in 2022, Onyedika highlighted not only the qualities that have made Onana such a hit on Merseyside, but also his own similarities with a certain World Cup-winning Frenchman.
Toffees eye Club Brugge ace Raphael Onyedika
“I like to win duels and I am also good with the ball at my feet,” Onyedika said. “Personally, I look up to Paul Pogba. A lot of people say we look alike, but I just want to be the best version of myself.”
Onyedika, who HITC has been told also has admirers at Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Brentford, posts similar ball-winning numbers to Onana (2.1 tackles per game in one of the best teams in Belgium compared to Onana’s 2.5 at a struggling Everton, WhoScored).
But what marks him out as a potential long-term successor for the coveted Belgian – rather than another Idrissa Gana Gueye-style destroyer – is his ability to pick up the ball in the number six role and spin away from his marker before driving up field. The sort of press-resistant qualities Pogba was renowned for at his peak.
“Onyedika is a versatile player who plays mainly as a central midfielder and is capable of playing on the right flank, in a holding role, as a deep-lying playmaker, in a box-to-box role, or even as an attacking midfielder,” explains Nigerian newspaper Punch, Onyedika also sharing Onana’s tactical flexibility.
“Onyedika is skilful and is very good at aerial balls. He is strong and has also drawn praise for his flair, speed as well as ability to hold up the ball.”
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