Everton: Phil McNulty can’t believe what’s being said about Amadou Onana after Chelsea defeat
BBC chief football writer Phil McNulty says he struggles to understand the hype surrounding Everton midfielder Amadou Onana.
The Belgium international badly struggled in the first half of Monday’s (15 April) 6-0 loss to Chelsea and was taken off at half time.
Onana has had a fair bit of transfer interest across the past few windows, most recently from Bayern Munich, but McNulty does not get “the fuss” surrounding the 22-year-old.
“May be missing something – it certainly wouldn’t be the first time – but I have never been able to understand the fuss around Amadou Onana at Everton, although he is playing in a desperately poor team,” McNulty posted on his personal X account [16 April].
McNulty did later go on to add: “Everton fans will hope this has the same hypnotic impact on Amadou Onana as when I announced Marouane Fellaini never influences big games roughly 30 minutes before he single-handedly destroyed Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.”
Is Amadou Onana any good?
A blunt question that may be, but not many in this current Everton side can honestly side they have performed well across the campaign.
To put it bluntly, Onana and Everton as a whole were truly dreadful in the first half at Stamford Bridge when going in at half time four goals down.
While it would be harsh to single out any individual in particular, it was telling that Dyche opted to hook the Belgian midway through the match.
The interest in Onana last summer, and even this January, was understandable and somewhat worrying from the Toffees’ perspective.
However, on the basis of the 2023-24 campaign, will a team truly be willing to cough up what Everton are holding out for?
This is not to say Onana cannot get back to his best, but he can have no complaints if still at Goodison Park next season on the basis of his performances.
In other Everton news, Sam Allardyce has shared his verdict on Farhad Moshiri and 777 Partners as the takeover uncertainty continues.
For more Everton news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.