Why Onana will be more than an enforcer for Villa

Alex Keble analyses why Amadou Onana's move from Everton to Aston Villa could be a perfect fit.

Player analysis - Amadou Onana (Aston Villa)

You’d be hard pushed to find another example of a player dropped by a team close to the relegation zone in the spring and sold for reportedly a near club-record fee in the summer.

That Everton are allegedly set to receive about £50million for Onana, who was behind James Garner in the pecking order through April, speaks to how the value of a player is directly related to the tactical preferences of the manager.

In theory, Onana seemed a good fit for Sean Dyche - a powerful midfield destroyer at his best when breaking up play in an anchor role. But in practice the 22-year-old Belgian has a ball-carrying quality, and an elasticity in possession, that makes him a better fit for a progressive manager.

Onana's importance will only grow now as he moves to a higher level; when his intelligent all-action playing style is matched with an elite coach able to integrate him into a structure where there are shorter passes and more transition-based pre-planned attacking moves.

In other words, Onana’s move to Unai Emery’s Villa suits everyone.

A powerful defensive midfielder

On the whole, statistical analysis does not capture Onana’s true quality. The way he was asked to perform by Dyche is entirely at odds with the high-possession and proactive football most of his Premier League contemporaries are playing.

But of course Onana’s defensive qualities - which remain his best feature - do show up in the numbers when playing for a bottom-half side.

FBref’s “scouting report”, which compares Onana to all central midfielders in the “Big Five” leagues over the last year, puts him in the 92nd percentile for tackles, the 94th percentile for aerial duels won, and the 87th percentile for ball recoveries.

Onana's defensive stats across 'Big Five' leagues 

Those three attributes are undoubtedly Onana’s trademarks.

He is superb at breaking up play: a strong tackler, quick anticipator and powerful presence able to nick the ball at the vital moment and use his physicality to muscle opponents out of the way.

Among Everton players in 2023/24, he ranked second for combined tackles and interceptions, with 3.97 per 90 minutes, while his 6.9 recoveries per match ranked third.

Across the entire Premier League, only three players won a higher percentage of their aerial duels than Onana’s 74.3 per cent.

In-possession qualities underrated at Everton

But it would be unfair to characterise Onana as a purely defensive player - even if he wasn’t given many opportunities at Everton to show his more skilful side.

In flashes, we see what will become Onana’s trademark - using the sole of his foot to roll the ball around an onrushing opponent and, breaking clear of the press, bursting forward in possession.

At Everton in 2023/24, he ranked second for progressive passes and through-balls as well as first for passes into the final third, but none of these numbers are particularly high compared with the rest of the division.

Onana's Everton passing stats 2023/24

Yet Onana is more than capable of driving forward with the ball, even if, after two years at Everton, he has a tendency to play sideways passes rather than trusting his ability to pierce the lines.

For evidence on this front, we can look at his performances for Belgium at UEFA EURO 2024.

Onana played every minute of Belgium’s four matches at the European Championship, ranking second in the squad for passes completed and third for touches as well as ball carries.

Note the stark difference to his Everton stats, reflecting the tactical differences between the two teams.

Onana: Everton v Belgium comparison

With time, and with the different coaching, we should see Onana emerge as an outstanding dribbler, ball carrier and passer, complementing his expert defensive work and physicality to create an all-round central midfielder who more or less does everything.

Matches v France and Villa show why Emery wanted him

The most recent example we have of this was Belgium’s 1-0 defeat to France in the last 16, a match in which Onana quietly excelled despite his nation’s elimination.

He completed six progressive passes, the joint-most among Belgium players alongside Kevin De Bruyne, while also making four tackles or interceptions, which was the joint-most of any player who started the contest.

But for an even better example, we can look at arguably Onana’s best Premier League performance of last season.

In Everton's 0-0 draw with Villa in January, a match that might have convinced Emery to sign him, Onana topped the Everton charts for ball carries, passes into the final third, and tackles.

Onana v Aston Villa (H) 2023/24

These are qualities that Emery and Villa need following the departure of Douglas Luiz to Juventus.

Douglas Luiz’s most important quality was his distribution and technical ability while under pressure, making him the lynchpin of Emery’s system when Villa built through the thirds.

Emery’s tactics depend upon drawing out the opposition press before cleverly spinning in behind it to create “artificial transitions”, and for that to work he needs midfielders confident of holding onto possession and passing or carrying the ball through tight spaces.

To a certain extent summer signing Ross Barkley offers these qualities, and while Onana’s passing has historically been risk-averse, his powerful dribbling can give Villa a new element that surpasses what Douglas Luiz could offer.

More importantly, at 6ft 4in, Onana gives Villa the height and aerial threat they lacked in 2023/24.

Just four Premier League clubs won a lower percentage of their aerial duels last season than Villa’s 47.9 per cent, which explains why only the bottom four (Nottingham Forest, Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United) conceded more set-piece goals than the 16 of Villa.

Onana was a huge player - in both meanings of the word - for Dyche’s Everton at dead-ball situations in 2023/24, contributing significantly to their record of 11 set-piece goals conceded from a set-piece Expected Goals Conceded (xGC) of 10.61, the fifth-best in the division.

As for Onana’s defensive work, he adds a quality that Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Barkley cannot, while also deputising for Boubacar Kamara, whose injuries are an ongoing concern for Villa.

It is a position that Villa struggle to fill without Kamara - and, if that powerful dribbling becomes more of a feature, Onana will be a clear upgrade on the Frenchman.

Onana, alongside McGinn or Tielemans, looks set to be an invaluable addition - an all-rounder who can combine the line-breaking carrying that Emery requires withthe defensive prowess, both on the ground and in the air, that Villa have been lacking.