• The Girondins de Bordeaux travel to Montpellier this Wednesday on the occasion of the 7th day of Ligue 1.

  • Arrived this summer in the most complete anonymity, Junior Onana is the revelation of the start of the season.

  • The box-to-box midfielder has the perfect profile to explode in L1 if he can channel his physical power.

From his first day at the Girondins de Bordeaux, Junior Onana almost entered the Guinness World Records. Why ? For the shortest introductory press conference in history. "I would not say he is shy, explains a member of the club, but he is someone rather discreet." Maybe off the pitch, but not with a ball! We've only seen him in midfield for two games. And not only because of its imposing build (1.89 m for 90 kg). The Cameroonian impresses and surprises his world in Gironde.

No one had ever heard of him before he landed from Losc at the end of August.

Some even go so far as to express doubts about the nature of his transfer in the shadow of Gérard Lopez, new owner and president of Marine et Blanc.

Doubts already almost raised today around the player from Yaoundé.

So who is this stranger, pleasant surprise at the start of the Girondins' season?

📊 Jean Onana's stats 🇨🇲 against AS Saint-Étienne:



- 90 minutes played.


- 78 balloons hit.


- 87% successful passes.


- 1 key pass.


- 8/15 ground duels won.


- 2/3 aerial duels won.


- 4 interceptions.


- 6 tackles.


- 1 clearance.



AWESOME 💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/Pfxxbrh5Jp

- CFOOT Cameroon 🇨🇲 (@cfootcameroun) September 19, 2021

An African story

Jean Emile Junior Onana, it is first of all a very beautiful story since the day when Blaise Nkufo's brother-in-law spotted him at the age of 16 during a match in his district of the Green City. : “Junior comes from a very modest family like many Africans.

He was educated by his mom [he had the pain of losing his dad in his youth].

Initially, it was not easy.

It had to be given a framework, ”explains the former Swiss international.

He then joined his academy, founded in 2013. The neo-Bordelais stayed there for three years to learn “the notion of work” according to Nkufo.

But like many young apprentice African footballers, the dream is to succeed in joining Europe.

Onana is testing in Estonia, Norway and finally in Portugal. “When we brought him in, nobody knew him like most of the players I have. But I trusted him because I knew what he was capable of. He was already very athletic with a very good technical level. He has always had both feet even if he is right-handed at the start, ”recalls the former Nati striker. His protégé eventually caught the eye of Leixoes, a second division club located in Matosinhos, near Porto. It is the first big turn in his career. After a season with the Portuguese club's U23 and only one appearance with the pro team, he is spotted by the teams of Admar Lopes, former right-hand man of Luis Campos at Losc and now technical director of the Girondins de Bordeaux. The player goes to Nord-Pas-de-Calais in January 2020.

A pure product of the Lopez system

Unfortunately for him between a team that is running at full speed with a lot of competition in the midfield (André, Soumaré, Xeka, Renato Sanches) and a championship stopped at the end of March due to the Covid-19 epidemic, he does not play . Junior Onana will then take advantage of the Gérard Lopez “system”. Six months after his arrival in France, he took over the management of Mouscron, the Luxembourg businessman's satellite club. "I think it was a very good decision to go and he easily accepted this loan," said Blaise Nkufo. It is essential for a young player to play. There he gained a lot of experience. »Olivier Defranne, supporter of the Belgian club and responsible for the Excel News Facebook page, remembers:“He arrived with a dozen players from Lille that summer (13 precisely) and he was one of the two / three players above with goalkeeper Hervé Koffi. He really has great potential with a lot of physical volume. He had a big showdown and even though he also played in defense with us, I think his best position is 8 (midfielder). "

A season that could (should) have finally opened the doors to Losc in the offseason.

But the new management led by Olivier Létang decides otherwise, despite his perfect profile to replace Boubakary Soumaré, who left for Leicester.

“He made his return to Lille with a muscle injury and suddenly he did the preseason apart.

As soon as he was ready, they decided not to bet on him and to buy other players.

I think that if Galtier had stayed, he would also have stayed, ”today suggests one of the Cameroonian's relatives.

The Genoa (Italy), Hanover (Germany) or the Spaniard Barcelona (Spain) are interested in him this summer but finally, he decides to follow Admar Lopes to Bordeaux.

Surely to "restore the confidence that has been placed in him for two years", specifies Blaise Nkufo.

The head will have to follow the legs

To (yet) take a step forward in the Bordeaux jersey this season, Olivier Defranne points to the boy's weakness: “He will quickly have to learn to channel himself because with us he has received a lot of cards! ". Include yellow (6) and red (1) cards. In Bordeaux, Junior Onana is already two yellows in two games. But can we blame him? His very physical game is doing a lot of good to a Gironde team which has been sorely lacking in recent seasons. Technically, the young 21-year-old midfielder is also far from being clumsy, like his equalization from the outside of the right against Lens or his opening from the left on the first Bordeaux goal in Saint-Etienne. Box-to-box player, Junior Onana seems to have the perfect profile to “explode” in Ligue 1 according to Olivier Defranne.

First day yesterday for Junior Onana with the Girondins.


First Marine et Blanc match and first goal 🔵⚪ ⚽ #FCGBRCL pic.twitter.com/MsPYlNvCcb

- FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins) September 13, 2021

“I am not surprised by his level because I knew him a little, relishes Vladimir Petkovic, the Girondins coach, he already brings a lot to the team but I think he still has a significant room for improvement.

It remains now to "keep a cool head and feet on the ground, insists Blaise Nkufo.

It really is the equation of the moment ”!

The answer should arrive quickly ...

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