Amadou Onana credits Unai Emery\u2019s singular focus on football for the most significant managerial impact of his career. The Aston Villa midfielder says the Spaniard\u2019s approach made the choice clear from the start and has continued to shape his development.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had many managers before,\u201d he begins. \u201cUnai Emery is the best one I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could feel in the conversations we had that this guy could take me to the next level. I knew what he was expecting of me and what he could bring to my game that could bring me to where I want to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke to many other managers at the time. This was just the right choice to do at the time. Still is today, by the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anyone as obsessed with football as he is. I think his entire life is just about football. Sometimes we\u2019ll fly back from European games, when it\u2019s probably 2 a.m. and he\u2019ll probably be in his office trying to rewatch the game. I find that fascinating, but I think that makes him the manager he is.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s made me uncomfortable. That\u2019s how you grow faster as a football player, but also as a man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onana is careful to acknowledge the influence of other figures in his rise. Frank Lampard brought him to the Premier League in 2022 and, despite a 20-match spell in charge, left a lasting impression. When first hearing Lampard\u2019s name, Onana recalls a mixture of disbelief and admiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in Lille, in my living room back in France, my sister\u2019s calling my phone … she\u2019d been calling my phone a few times that day,\u201d Onana recalls. \u201cWhen she told me, \u2018The gaffer wants to speak to you,\u2019 I\u2019m thinking, \u2018Who\u2019s the gaffer?\u2019 She goes, \u2018Frank Lampard.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, in my head, I knew it was him, but I had to double check. \u2018Is this real?\u2019 He\u2019s a football legend, not a Premier League legend, a football legend.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying in the Prem was always a dream, he was the one that gave me the opportunity. He just had the flair, you know. He could smell it, where to be, what to do. I learned a lot from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onana\u2019s pathway included a move from the Zulte Waregem academy to Hoffenheim in 2017, a swap to Hamburg three years later that led to his senior debut, and a move to Lille that enhanced his profile. When Roberto Mart\u00ednez called him up to the Belgium national team in 2022, Mart\u00ednez insisted that listeners would soon understand Onana\u2019s potential, saying, \u201cThis is one of the most exciting prospects in European football at this present time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Onana says Unai Emery\u2019s obsession with football has pushed him to improve at Aston Villa. In 2025\/26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[711],"tags":[1446,983,1541],"class_list":["post-9258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aston-villa","tag-academy","tag-agents","tag-amadou-onana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}