Amadou Onana: Stats Scouting

Getting the stats low down on one of the Premier League's hottest midfield prospects

The transfer links for Arsenal are scraping the bottom of the barrel, especially with the signals from Mikel Arteta to dampen expectations of what is possible in this window.

All that being said when you look at the squad there are clear holes for this season and given the age/contract situation/injury history of players in certain positions, for next season.

One of those spots is midfield and the link is who we are talking about today is Eveton’s number eight, Amadou Onana. The current links make me feel that this might be one where it is about trying to take care of a market opportunity (Everton financial distress) but realistically might be more of a summer deal. Arsenal have been linked with him in the past, with his name coming up last January and with another year of growth in the Premier League this looks like a deal with some decent smoke (or really good agent work).

This probably isn’t going to happen now, but it might the chance isn’t zero and it might be happening next window so let’s get familiar with the stats. (all stats through December 30, 2023)

Overall he doesn’t jump off the page as ready to make the jump up the table with his stats profile but I think that there is still a lot of promise in his profile, especially the growth that he has shown over the last couple of years. Let’s dig into more detail.

Passing

Like I always do let’s start with his passing numbers. This is always one of the first things I look at for an Arsenal target because I think it is a major barramoter for how well they will fit into the team (perhaps given recent links I should switch to DUELS but I will stick with passing for a bit longer).

Looking at his dashboard, this doesn’t scream ARSENAL midfielder but in the context of his age and team I don’t think it is a major red flag. He mixes average volume, with relatively safe passing this season. That puts the value on the lower side but it is a step forward from what he did last season and when the link first started this was the thing that make me think it was not the time.

Compared to last year, everything has moved in a positive direction. He is passing more, passing forward more, creating more value, and completing more of the passes. He is still below the required level for me but seeing him take the step up and seeing him on the ball makes me think that there is still room for him to grow if he gets a move to the next level.

Let’s dig a little more into how he looks this season.

Overall his numbers look fine and that is basically what I expected and for his age, I think a very positive indicator.

I would still like to see more from him before I would sign off (not that Arsenal ask me) on a move to a team like Arsenal because it still feels like he is in a key development time and without the minutes the hints of the skills that are present but not always on full display when you watch him might atrophy.

I am going to include the creation numbers here but for a defensive midfielder I am not overly worried or want to go deep into this.

Ball Winning

Onana is busy off the ball but not nearly as busy this season as he was last year. He finds himself in a fair amount of duels (4.4 from Opta data, 6.8 from Wyscout) and comes out the winner on the majority of them (61% Opta, 63% Wyscout). I have started to work on rating the difficulty of winning duels and on this he also comes out on the positive side of things winning 8% more duels than expected based on where on the pitch they are contested.

If there are issues in his ball winning is that he is maybe too aggressive at times leading to fouls (1.7 per 90) and that he has been dribbled past a bit too often in dangerous locations.

Overall though he looks like as good of a defensive force as you would expect for someone with his size and strength. Perhaps a little cleanup on when to engage but still overall a player that has all the defensive tools you could hope for.

Carrying and Dribbling

For his athletic ability, he doesn’t add quite the on-ball numbers I would hope and expect.

He is not bad but it also doesn’t jump off the screen as a major plus either. He attempts a fair amount of dribbles for a midfielder, so he isn’t afraid to try it but he does have them come off less, especially in his own half than you would like. The flip side of that is that he is good at using his body to shield the ball when in an attacking duel and draws a good share of fouls to make up for it.

Overall he doesn’t lose the ball too often and comes out winning more attacking duels than you would expect, it just doesn’t add a ton of value towards adding goals with his ability to beat a man or to move the ball up the field.

Final thoughts

Onana looks like a promising player, with all the tools needed to reach the top but still needs to refine them to fulfill that potential.

Right now I can’t help but feel like if he moved up the Premier League ladder it would seriously hamper what he could potentially develop into if it means that he goes from being a key player in a team to a player who is only getting irregular minutes.

I have developed a pretty simple projection system that takes a player’s last 3 seasons and the difference between the current and new team to try and look at what they might be if a move happens and this is what it looks like for Onana.

A move to Arsenal would almost certainly improve his numbers but looking at what the model suggests I think it still looks like a move that would be too early for him, or one that would still require accepting growing pains along the way.

I would not be against a move for him, especially if this is a situation where we are taking advantage of a club potentially selling from a position of weakness but my expectations for him, especially early, would be pretty tempered in how much impact he can provide and how much growth and refinement might still be needed in his game.