Amadou Onana Explains Why Unai Emery Is the Best Manager of His Career

Aston Villa’s star midfielder has been blessed with plenty of high-profile managers.

Amadou Onana was full of praise for his manager. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana believes Unai Emery’s unrivaled obsession with soccer sets him apart from other managers.

The 24-year-old has firmly established himself as one of the Premier League’s elite midfielders during his time under Emery, who has helped elevate his game since a blockbuster transfer from Everton in 2024.

Sitting down with Sports Illustrated FC, Onana explains why this has come as no surprise to him.

“I’ve had many managers before,” he begins. “Unai Emery is the best one I’ve ever had.

“I 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.

“I 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.

“I’ve never seen anyone as obsessed with football as he is. I think his entire life is just about football. Sometimes we’ll fly back from European games, when it’s probably 2 a.m. and he’ll probably be in his office trying to rewatch the game. I find that fascinating, but I think that makes him the manager he is.

“He’s made me uncomfortable. That’s how you grow faster as a football player, but also as a man.”

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Onana in Awe of ‘Legendary’ Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard was Onana’s first manager in England. | Dave Howarth/CameraSport/Getty Images

While Emery may stand out for Onana, he is under no illusion as to the pedigree of the other managers he has worked with during his career.

It was Frank Lampard who brought Onana to the Premier League with England in 2022. Their time together would last just 20 matches, but that was still enough time for the boss to share some of the wisdom picked up during a playing career at the highest level of the game with Chelsea and Manchester City.

When first introduced to Lampard by his sister Mélissa, who also operates as his agent, Onana admits he had to pinch himself.

“I was in Lille, in my living room back in France, my sister’s calling my phone ... she’d been calling my phone a few times that day,” Onana recalls. “When she told me, ‘The gaffer wants to speak to you,’ I’m thinking, ‘Who’s the gaffer?’ She goes, ‘Frank Lampard.’

“Obviously, in my head, I knew it was him, but I had to double check. ‘Is this real?’ He’s a football legend, not a Premier League legend, a football legend.

“Playing 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.”

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Roberto Martínez Faith on the International Stage

Onana credits his international career to Roberto Martínez (right). | Vincent Kalut/Photo News/Getty Images

Onana is now a household name, but that was not always the case, particularly in his homeland of Belgium.

In 2017, an 18-year-old Onana left the Zulte Waregem academy to join Hoffenheim in Germany. A swap to Hamburg three years later brought a senior debut and a platform upon which Onana could earn himself the move to French side Lille that kick-started his emergence.

When a first call-up to the Belgium national team arrived in 2022, Onana was still relatively unknown to fans in the country. Roberto Martínez helped change that.

“This is one of the most exciting prospects in European football at this present time,” said Martínez as he assured those questioning the call-up that they would soon understand.

“Martínez is such a big figure in football, so for him to say something like that, it feels good,” Onana explains.

“I don’t think he realises to this day how grateful I am to him, because I was at Lille, kind of a no-name in my country, in my own country because I had to go away to make it. When not many believed in me, he gave me that chance, the opportunity to go and represent Belgium on probably the biggest stage in the world.”

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