Michael Ball has criticised Amadou Onana’s mentality.
Writing in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Ball claimed that the Everton midfielder will often ‘switch off’, but says it is down to his age.
Onana joined the Toffees from Lille last summer and was easily one of their best players in his first season in the Premier League. The 22-year-old was briefly linked with a move away from Goodison Park, with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea reportedly interested.
However, Onana has remained at Everton and is expected to become an even more important player under Sean Dyche as they look to steer away from a relegation scrap for a third year running.
While the Belgian has been mostly very impressive during his time on Merseyside, Ball has claimed his ‘young mentality’ has let him down at times.
“Onana, you can see he’s a very talented lad,” Ball said. “But you can also see he switches off.
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“He’s got that young mentality – it’s not laziness, he just doesn’t think he doesn’t need to something and opposition won’t hurt us, Sheffield United being a good example. Run two yards and that cross doesn’t happen.”
Amadou Onana will still be an incredible player over the next few years
While Onana clearly his his faults, the midfielder has only been in the Premier League a year and people seem to forget that he turned 22 last month.
The Belgium international has plenty of time to iron out any issues in his play and undoubtedly has the potential to be an incredible player – whether that will be at Everton or not is yet to be seen.
Interested parties weren’t willing to pay the hefty fee Everton were demanding to sell Onana this summer, however they could certainly make a huge profit next summer if he was to leave.
The club will have to decide whether it is worth keeping hold of him or cashing in on a player with such huge potential.