Aston Villa midfielder nominated for Premier League Player of the Month

Aston Villa's new club record signing, Amadou Onana, has been nominated for August's Premier League Player of the Month Award.

Onana has been nominated for the award alongside Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Bryan Mbuemo (Brentford), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), David Raya (Arsenal), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Mo Salah (Liverpool) and Danny Welbeck (Brighton).

Onana's August

Having joined Aston Villa in July for a club-record fee of £50 million Onana has had a superb start to the season. His season started with a bang after scoring with a towering header just four minutes into his debut in the 2-1 win against West Ham United on the opening day of the season.

His man-of-the-match performance in that game was followed by another excellent display against Arsenal. His dominating presence in midfield provided Villa will great balance and was unfortunate when his deflected shot struck the crossbar before Raya's phenomenal save from Ollie Watkins's follow-up header.

Villa's previous game against Leicester City again saw Villa secure a 2-1 victory away from home. As it was two weeks previously, Onana opened the scoring for Villa to set the tone for the match. Onana finished the month with two goals from the opening three games, already matching his tally for Everton over the entirety of last season.

Onana settling into life at Villa

Amadou Onana has quickly become a fan favourite at the club and his celebrations with the away fans after the two victories have suggested that he has settled into life at Villa very quickly. As seen in the tweet below, Onana has been seen dancing and encouraging plenty of noise from the fans after the games so far. Following the win at West Ham United, Belgian teammate Your Tielemans was asked what has helped Onana to settle in and he said, "Just to play his game; he’s got loads of confidence, loads of qualities. He’s just exposed all of that today (against West Ham) and hopefully, he can carry on and become even better than he is.”

According to WhoScored, Amadou Onana ranks second in terms of performance compared to the Premier League's other new signings so far this season.

Onana has also described the difference between playing at Aston Villa and Everton.

"“This is just a different style of football. Unai Emery is truly a tactical freak. As a result, the training sessions can sometimes take a long time, but I prefer this. Here we play more on ball possession. You usually stay on the ball much longer. Sean Dyche wanted to see more direct football. Long balls. Lots of second balls.""

- Amadou Onana

Onana also went on to say, “It is the fourth (best club) in the Premier League. With a top coach. With top players. It is a top club. I think I am where I should be". It is obvious that Onana has adapted to life at Villa very quickly and the fans have taken

UTV