New Everton signing Amadou Onana’s first choice this summer was to sign for West Ham United with first-team opportunities harder to come by at the London Stadium, reports claim.
That’s according to Football Insider, who believe that Onana was more inclined to move to the capital than to Merseyside with West Ham securing European football for the second consecutive season following their seventh-placed finish.
Both clubs had bids accepted for the Belgium international, who eventually moved to the Toffees for a fee that will reach £32.4m as he aims to pick up a starting role at Goodison Park this season.
And the publication states that the midfielder’s preferred choice was actually David Moyes’ men, who have come on leaps and bounds as a team over the last two seasons.
However, with Declan Rice’s partnership with Tomas Soucek becoming practically inseparable and crucial to Moyes’ plans, the Hammers could only offer Onana a squad role in their midfield – giving Everton the upper hand.
Frank Lampard, on the contrary, offered Onana the chance to step straight into the first team following the poor form of Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan.
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This swayed Onana’s decision with the World Cup on the horizon as he aims to force his way into the Belgium 23-man-squad in November, with game time likely to massively cloud that reality.
Makes sense.
Rice undroppable, Soucek and Downes already at the club he’s going to be 3rd or 4th choice at best
Soucek should be sold pronto!
Soucek should be sold pronto! Absolutely useless!
Wouldn’t be paying that amount of money for Onana to sit on the bench, but Moyes wouldn’t be expected to tell Onana he’d be a certain starter, taking the fight out of him .If he signed i think Rice would have been employed as the attacking midfielder or Soucek, with Onana breaking up play
Makes sense … £120k per week against £60-£80k he’d have got at the LS … is he distantly related to Lingrat?