Everton: Amadou Onana gets Belgium vote of confidence from Roberto Martinez
Amadou Onana has already asserted himself as a key part of the Everton team and he has his sights set on similar with the Belgian national side.
The 21-year-old already has two caps to his name for the Red Devils and will be hoping to add plenty more to that tally at the Qatar World cup in November.
Belgium manager Roberto Martinez, formerly of the Toffees, has backed Onana to maintain his strong start to his international career as a key part of his midfield too.
“We’ve tried Lokonga with Orel Mangala and Sambi before. Now Onana got his chance,” Martinez said to HLN. “He has adapted very well. Amadou now plays in the Premier League, which will only make him stronger.
“He has physical qualities that we haven’t seen since Fellaini. He is also a leader. Despite his age – he is only 21 – he already has a lot of experience.
“Amadou has already played in three top European competitions: the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and now the Premier League. That’s special. He is a very useful player.”
Monster
Standing at six-foot-four, Onana is a presence on the field no matter who he is marking at any given time and that has almost put a fear factor into opposition players.
He not only wins most aerial duels he contests but rarely loses out on the ground either and his fleet of foot means he can glide much quicker than you would think in between the lines.
All of that packaged into one player is a dangerous problem for every Premier League team and Frank Lampard has been utilising the perfect box-to-box midfielder as much as he can.
He would love for Onana to get a good long rest over the World Cup break, selfishly, but it looks as if Martinez has his sights set on him being a starter in midfield behind Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne.
That kind of experience will only help him get even better though and Everton could have an entirely different beast to play with when the international break ends on Boxing Day.