Everton are going to find it "very difficult" to keep hold of midfielder Amadou Onana this summer, according to an update from journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Is Onana having a good season?
The 21-year-old made the move to Goodison Park last summer, arriving in a big-money move from Lille and being seen as an exciting signing. Amid the Blues' struggles in the Premier League this season, he has arguably been one of the bright sparks, providing a mixture of quality and tenacity in the middle of the park, scoring and assisting once apiece in the league along the way.
With Everton threatened by relegation to the Championship, it seems highly unlikely that Onana would stay at Goodison Park beyond the summer if that happens, and he may even look for a new challenge regardless of their position in the football ladder. His current Blues deal expires in the summer of 2027, which would at least mean that the Merseysiders could earn good money for his signature.
Will Onana leave Everton this summer?
Speaking to Caught Offside [via Goodison News], Romano admitted that Everton will do well to keep Onana at the club by the time the summer transfer window ends:
"Everton are going to find it very difficult to keep hold of Amadou Onana this summer."
In truth, it would be impossible to begrudge Onana a move away from Everton this summer should the unthinkable happen and the Blues go down to the Championship, having only survived by the skin of their teeth last time around.
The hope is that they retain their Premier League status and Sean Dyche talks the Belgian into staying put, though, promising him that he can be a key man in both the present and the future. The £38,000-a-week midfielder has been hailed as "outstanding" by journalist Connor O'Neill earlier this year and is a player with so much potential.
At 21, he has already won six caps for a star-studded Belgium side featuring the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, and he should only grow into a more dominant figure for club and country as the years pass and he matures as a player.
The brutal truth is that Everton will do very well to keep Onana, however, especially if a club who are playing European football come in for him and offer him a route out of Goodison in the summer.
