Amadou Onana sends Chelsea and Arsenal a strong transfer message

Amadou Onana has made it quite clear that he is fully committed to Everton despite inquiries about his availability from both Arsenal and Chelsea in the January transfer window.

Chelsea briefly considered signing the Belgian midfielder instead before returning with a Premier League-record offer for Enzo Fernandez; nevertheless, they ultimately succeeded in persuading Benfica to part with their top player.

Similar to how Arsenal turned to Onana after receiving a negative response from Brighton on Moises Caicedo, despite Everton’s adamant refusal to sell him, and instead chose to buy Jorginho from Chelsea.

However, the 21-year-old made up for it by putting up a very strong and active performance in the Toffees’ 1-0 triumph over Arsenal at Goodison Park on Saturday.

After his outstanding performance, in which he frequently disrupted the flow of the game and charged forward, Onana thumped the Everton crest on his shirt to express his wish to stay with the team.

As he left the pitch and came down the Goodison Park tunnel, Everton’s cameras captured him yelling: ‘I ain’t f***ing going nowhere! I’m f***ing here!’

Onana received a lot of praise for his performance against Arsenal, but new manager Sean Dyche was a little more reserved and stated that there is still much room for improvement.

After defeating the league’s top team, Dyche praised his midfield star, saying: ‘He’s got a lot to learn. I think he’s a talent, obviously.

‘The ugly side of the game he’s got to learn. I had a very similar process, which I spoke to him about, we had a bit of fun with him and Idrissa [Gueye] and Douc [Abdoulaye Doucoure] and I said I’m getting you to speak to Steven Defour. So I said we’ll be doing that.

‘He said, “Steven Defour I know who that is” and I said, “Yes so do I, we’ll be speaking to him next week and he’ll teach you about what the requirements in the Premier League are”.

‘Because he’s a young man who is learning. He’s come in here with real talent, fantastic physically. We’ll get him fitter, sharper, and I’ll teach him the ugly side of the game and teach him to be a more complete player.

‘He’s got a lot on offer, but there’s still a long way to go for him in my belief in order to be a complete player. And there’s a long way to go for him.

‘Steven will help me educate him. Well respected international footballer for Belgium. He’ll rub off on him. And I’ve told him if he doesn’t, I’ll rub off on him.’

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