Amadou Onana sealed a move to Everton in the summer transfer window, months after he made his debut for Belgium in June.
The midfielder has started in the last four matches for the Toffees after making two substitute appearances against Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
Earlier this month, the 21-year-old talked about his childhood and journey so far with Everton’s official channel website.
During the interview, Onana admitted that he has been “been through a lot” but did not provide specific details. These are now discussed by Romance Mauridi.
Mauridi was the youth scout who identified the Everton man in Belgium. Onana had a spell at Zulte Waregem’s academy, where off-field issues made the situation difficult for him. This resulted in the Belgian club losing their young talent.
“A solution could have been to accommodate Amadou in the academy of Zulte Waregem or intervene in his train subscription. The Onana family didn’t ask much, but they got nothing.”
Zulte Waregem’s loss saw Mauridi broker Onana’s move to TSG Hoffenheim in 2017.
“Amadou mainly wanted to play. I’d contacted a bunch of clubs in Germany. For most part I got a ‘no’, but Hoffenheim had sent a scout and showed interest. They informed me that they wanted Amadou. That was in November. Zulte Waregem were being difficult,” he added.
Hoffenheim capitalised on Zulte Waregem’s lack of effort to keep Onana. He spent four in Germany, before joining Lille in 2021. The Belgium international left the Ligue 1 side for Everton in the last window.
