Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana has hinted he wasn’t allowed to be his best self at Everton, something he instead achieved at Euro 2024 with Belgium.
The midfielder has been speaking to La Dernière Heure, relayed by Het Nieuwsblad, after securing his move to Aston Villa this summer.
The midfielder completed a €60m move to Villa Park earlier this week, bringing an end to a two year stay at Goodison Park following a €40m move from Lille in August 2022.
He’d been a regular for the Blues in that time, playing a role as they’ve battled against relegation over the last few years.
His performances had earned him plenty of admirers, with many believing that the 22-year-old could establish himself as a leading Premier League player, and potentially European player, in the years to come.
He had regularly hinted he saw that happening away from Everton, though, often talking about his desire to play for someone else and hinting that Sean Dyche’s style was not suited to him.
That was certainly felt towards the end of last season as the Everton manager dropped Onana in favour of others, with the midfielder later coming out and insisting the wanted to use Euro 2024 as a stage on which to show his abilities to a wider audience.
That is something he feels he did, and thus helped seal the move to Aston Villa, again hinting at his frustration at Everton.
“The European Championships have boosted my value. I’m convinced of that,” he said.
“My performance at the European Championship was in balance with the player I am and the qualities I have. At Everton we often played a completely different type of football. I was able to show all my qualities at the European Championships. I was enjoying myself on the pitch, I think it showed.
“I was very confident that the European Championships would accelerate my future. Mentally I was fully ready to give the best of myself and I think I did my job well.”
