Barcelona stance emerges as Everton agree Amadou Onana transfer to Aston Villa

Barcelona will not look to hijack Amadou Onana's move to Aston Villa after they agreed a deal worth £50m with Everton, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Writing on his personal X account (13 July), the reliable journalist reports that the Belgium star is close to Aston Villa after personal terms were agreed.

Barcelona have been linked with a move for the midfielder to bolster their squad [Mundo Deportivo, 2 July], but they won't look to step in as their full focus is on signing Nico Williams from Athletic Club.

Everton set to sell Amadou Onana for club-record fee

It had been expected for much of the summer that Everton would sell Onana as they looked to balance the books, and there was confidence at Aston Villa as long as a month ago [TEAMtalk, 15 June] that they would be successful in the race for his signature.

So it's no surprise that they have managed to find an agreement for the midfielder, and for a fee that many expected him to be available for.

Barcelona had their interest too, but the fee was always likely to be a problem for them and a deal always felt more unlikely once Sean Dyche steered the team away from relegation.

But with a club the size of Barcelona, they can never be ruled out, and that's why it was important to keep an eye on what their plans were before anything definitive with Onana happened.

However, it seems like they've made their decision now and Aston Villa will be the ones to win the race. Everton won't care where he ends up so long as they get the money they wanted for him, so this is a win-win for all involved.

In other Everton news, one midfield maestro's transfer preference has been shared after talks with the Toffees.

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