Pundit View: Everton signing has already shown more than 'Fantastic' player who left Goodison

Michael Ball says Tim Iroegbunam has already shown more for Everton than Amadou Onana ever did, as the pair face one another’s former clubs on Saturday.

The Toffees make the trip to take on Aston Villa as the Premier League returns this weekend, and Iroegbunam and Onana are likely to directly oppose each other.

Former Everton defender Ball expects the new man on Merseyside to be eager to prove a point.

In his column in the Liverpool Echo [10 September], he said: “I’m looking forward to seeing Tim Iroegbunam and Amadou Onana going head-to-head because despite his lack of experience and their respective price tags, the new lad has shown more already at Everton than Onana ever did.

“Onana is a fantastic player, but it just felt like the wrong team at the wrong time for him and he just didn’t fit. Tim will want to go back to his old club and prove a point and say: ‘you shouldn’t have sold me.’

“Onana came with a lot of bluster about where he wanted to be in his football career but didn’t hit the heights expected of him, maybe through a combination of how we played, and his style didn’t suit the system too much. Fighting near the bottom of the table probably didn’t get the best out of him.”

Aston Villa v Everton – Onana v Iroegbunam

It’s certainly a bold statement from Ball on Iroegbunam having shown more in his fledgling stint at Everton than Onana had done – there is a reason the Toffees scooped £50m over the summer when the Belgian left for Villa Park.

Having moved in opposite directions, Iroegbunam will of course have that added fire in his belly and will almost certainly start at the weekend, having been entrusted early on by Sean Dyche.

The switch to Goodison appears beneficial for his progress and he is already a vital component in Dyche’s midfield – however, who isn’t to say Onana will have that subconscious extra 10% against his former team as well?

It will certainly be an interesting battle and one on which the media will be maintaining a watchful eye.

Iroegbunam is enjoying a good individual start to the season despite the recent deficiencies of the overall team unit and if he can inspire a first result of the campaign at a tough place to travel, he could go from strength to strength.

In other Everton news, Idrissa Gana Gueye has been labelled “essential” after this for Senegal.

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