Declan Rice's future continues to dominate the transfer columns, but West Ham United may well have already found an ideal replacement for their departing captain.
England international Rice is certain to move on this summer – chairman David Sullivan confirmed as much earlier this month – but United are continuing to haggle over a fee for a player they value at a nine-figure sum.
It seems likely they will get their wish, with Arsenal now joined by Manchester City in the bidding, meaning plenty of money will be available to bring in a new central midfielder.
What's the latest on West Ham's hunt for Declan Rice's replacement?
According to The Sun reporter Alan Nixon, David Moyes is hopeful of raiding former club Everton for in-demand Amadou Onana, who is also being eyed up by Chelsea and Manchester United.
Moyes is said to have missed out on Onana last summer when Everton signed him from Lille for £30m, and his valuation has now climbed to as much as £50m.
Given that will potentially be just half the amount they get for the sale of Rice, it surely makes sense for West Ham to move quickly and bring in the Belgium international, rather than being left stranded come the second half of the transfer window.
Is Amadou Onana a good replacement for Declan Rice?
Onana has taken no time at all to settle into the Premier League, as reflected in a number of key metrics. For example, he ranked in the top 10% of all midfielders across Europe's top five leagues for aerial duels won last season, as per The Analyst.
Rice was only in the top 40%, though he does, of course, thrive in other areas. There are plenty of similarities between the two men, however, such as direct goal involvement (0.14 per 90 minutes for Rice, 0.11 for Onana), pass completion rate (86.5% v 83.3%) and take-ons attempted (1.73 v 1.88).
As per FBref, both players find the target at an identical rate (0.22 per 90 minutes) and, while Rice edges things in terms of shot-creating actions – which factors in passes and take-ons leading to a shot – at 2.75 per 90 to Onana's 1.63, the latter comes into his own in the tackles won per 90 metric (1.56 v 1.04).
As the Manchester Evening News reporter Tyrone Marshall put it in October, Onana is a "supreme athlete and very mobile", which would also be a good way to describe Rice.
Whoever is brought in by West Ham will have to hit the ground running if they are to come anywhere close to replacing fan favourite Rice. In Onana, they have a Premier League-ready option waiting to do exactly that.
