Aston Villa have confirmed the permanent signing of midfielder Amadou Onana from Everton for a fee reported by the BBC to be a £50 million fee.
The 22-year-old has joined Unai Emery’s squad, ending his two-year stay at Goodison Park.
Onana is the seventh player to join the club this summer, following the likes of Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen, Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea through the doors at Villa Park.
Cameron Archer, like Barkley, has also re-joined the club following the terms of his unique deal with Sheffield United, which meant he returned to Villa after The Blades’ relegation last season.
Onana is the second player to join The Villans from Everton in the current transfer window after forward Lewis Dobbin signed for the West Midlands club in June for an undisclosed fee.
Onana is expected to be a replacement for Douglas Luiz, who left the club earlier in the summer to join Italian giants Juventus.
As part of the deal for the Brazilian, 20-year-old Iling-Junior moved in the opposite direction and left the Serie A side for Villa.
During two years on Merseyside, after joining from French outfit LOSC Lille in 2022, Onana made 72 appearances for The Toffees.
The Senegal-born midfielder played a vital role in Everton’s top-flight survival during the 2022/23 season, where they avoided relegation by two points.
Onana represents Belgium at international level and has played 17 times for The Red Devils after making his debut under Roberto Martinez, just two months before he moved to the Premier League.
He played every minute of the nation’s four Euro 2024 matches in Germany this summer before they were eliminated in the last-16 stage by France.
Emery is bolstering his squad ahead of the club’s return to the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s elite club competition.
The Spaniard led Villa to a shock top-four place last campaign, their highest top-flight finish since the 1995/96 season.