4 months ago
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AMADOU ONANA is the rock on which Unai Emery plans to build Aston Villa’s Prem and Champions League challenge.
Standing 6ft 5in, man-mountain Onana was signed from Everton for a club-record £50million.
RexThat was the same fee Villa banked from Juventus for Douglas Luiz, who was flogged to avoid the threat of breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR) — and Onana is more than three years younger than the Brazilian.
He was undervalued at times at Everton — but now Villa boss Emery will look to develop the Belgium star into a more complete midfielder.
No wonder Villa’s transfer guru Monchi wasted no time to replace Luiz once the new financial year began in July.
Onana, who turns 23 on Friday, will be tasked with anchoring the midfield, as well as being the pivot who will spark most of Villa’s transitions from defence to attack.
He is the man surprise Champions League package Villa, who beat Spurs, Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea to fourth spot, will lean on — both on and off the park — as they embark on their great European adventure in their 150th anniversary season.
Because handily, Onana speaks five languages — and cannot wait for Emery to help him master Spanish to make it SIX.
During his first interview with a national newspaper since his record-breaking move to Villa Park, he said: “I’ve asked Unai Emery and his staff to speak to me in Spanish so that I can answer in Spanish.
“I already speak five languages, Wolof — from my childhood growing up in Senegal — French, German, English and Dutch. But I’m learning a sixth.
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“I love Spain and go there at least once a year. It’s a beautiful language and it would be nice to be able to speak it more fluently.
“Obviously it’s going to be easier here with so many Spanish- speaking staff, so Unai can help me improve my Spanish as well as my football!”
Education is massively important to Onana and it is a value which was instilled in him from a young age by his hard-working mother.
He may be a £50m footballer now but Onana grew up in a household crammed with 14 family members in the Colobane district of Senegal’s capital Dakar while his father worked overseas in Belgium.
His mum then gave up her career as a physio to emigrate to Brussels when Onana was 11 to chase his dream of a football career.
The gentle giant said: “The man you see in front of you is built by my mum.
Onana was a key player for Everton last season“My mum raised three kids on her own, which couldn’t always have been easy, but she made the best of it.
“I shared a room with my brother in a house with my whole family, which meant mum, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunties.
“Football-wise, I didn’t have the opportunities you have here in England.
“I just played football in the street.
“I moved to Belgium when I was 11 to play football — and because I knew there were also better opportunities there for my schooling.
“Mum was always big on education, schoolwork always came first.
“I had to finish all my homework before I was allowed out to play football with my friends — that was the deal.
“Mum is the main influence in my life and gave me the dedication I’ve got.
“But I always keep her name out of the limelight, she doesn’t really like being in the public eye.
“She’s an amazing woman, the love of my life.
“She looked after all of us. She had her own business as a physio but then gave up on her dreams to make ours become a reality.
“Plus she is my biggest fan and my biggest critic!
“After every game, I ask her how well or how badly I’ve done and she’ll tell me straight.
“She might not be Unai Emery but she grew up in a house with five or six brothers, so she knows her football!”
Yet it was another brilliant and strong woman who put Onana on the pathway to a career in football — Melissa, his older sister.
Onana never made the grade at Anderlecht’s academy and was struggling to make an impression at lowly Zulte Waregem when Melissa sent video clips of her brother to clubs in Holland and Germany.
After much badgering, Hoffenheim eventually invited him for trials.
Despite being desperately sick with cancer, Melissa accompanied her little brother on a five-hour train journey, with several changes, before walking to the training ground, where Onana made such an impression he was immediately signed up.
Onana was full of praise for his sister, saying: “She has been looking after me for nearly 12 years now and has played a massive part in me being at Villa today.
“She’s been the driving force. Seeing her having cancer and trying to battle through life, while trying to take care of her little brother, was unique.
“Her strength turned into my strength. There’s a 13-year age difference between us and she basically gave up part of her life and dedicated it to me.
“She saw that I was doing quite well at Hoffenheim and a couple of people told her, ‘Your brother is not too bad, you should look after him’, and she took that advice.
“She wasn’t really into football and yet she got informed, studied and got a diploma as an agent.
“She now has 20- plus players who she represents.
“Without her I might not be eating now. Who knows?”
Onana excelled at Hoffenheim and moved to Hamburg, then Lille in France, where he starred in the Champions League and broke into the Belgian national team.
He joined Everton for £33m in 2022 and made over 70 appearances for the Toffees before they made a £17m profit selling him to Villa.
Yet despite being rich beyond his wildest dreams, Onana is studying again, even though he is unlikely to ever sit through a job interview in his life.
He explained: “I’m taking my Belgian general school diploma because I had to leave school when I left for Germany.
“It was a whole other country, a whole different language and I didn’t speak a word of it!
“My exams had to be put on hold, now I’m back. I’ve got one exam left.
“I think I’m smart enough to get my diploma, which is something that was always important to my family. That’s why I’m doing it now.”
Bengali (BD) · 
English (US) ·