Jean Onana
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Onana with Beşiktaş in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jean Emile Junior Onana Onana | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 8 January 2000 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Yaoundé, Cameroon | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Genoa (on loan from Beşiktaş) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| –2019 | Nkufo Academy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | → Leixões (loan) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Leixões | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Lille B | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Lille | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | → Mouscron (loan) | 28 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Bordeaux | 26 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Lens | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Beşiktaş | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | → Marseille (loan) | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | → Genoa (loan) | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2025 | Cameroon | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 February 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 9 January 2026 | |||||||||||||||||
Jean Emile Junior Onana Onana (born 8 January 2000) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Genoa on loan from Süper Lig club Beşiktaş.[1][2]
Club career
On 31 January 2020, Onana joined Lille from Leixões.[3] Onana made his professional debut with Lille in a 2–1 Ligue 1 loss to Marseille on 16 February 2020.[4] In August 2020, he joined Belgian club Mouscron along with some Lille players on loan,[5] where he received a red card in a Division A match defeat to Kortrijk on 13 September.[6]
On 30 August 2021, Onana moved to Ligue 1 club Bordeaux on a five-year contract.[7] On 1 September 2022, he signed for his former club Lille's rivals Lens on a five-year contract.[8] He made his first appearance with Lens on 4 September 2022 against Reims.
On 21 July 2023 Onana moved to Süper Lig club Beşiktaş.[9]
On 11 December 2023, it was officially announced that Onana has been excluded from the Beşiktaş squad along with Vincent Aboubakar, Valentin Rosier, Rachid Ghezzal and Eric Bailly due to poor performance and incompatibility within the team.[10]
On 8 January 2024, Beşiktaş sent Onana on loan to Ligue 1 club Marseille until the end of the season, with an option to make the move permanent.[11]
On 30 January 2025, Beşiktaş sent Onana on loan to Serie A club Genoa until the end of the season, with an option to make the move permanent.[12] On 1 September 2025, Onana returned to Genoa on loan with a conditional obligation to buy.[13]
International career
Onana made his Cameroon national team debut on 8 October 2020 in a friendly against Japan.[14][15]
He was part of the Cameroonian squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. He made his Africa Cup of Nations debut as a late substitute in the third group-stage match against Cape Verde. He then came on as a substitute in the round of 16 against the Comoros and in the semi-final defeat to Egypt. He started in the third-place play-off, which Cameroon won on penalties against Burkina Faso.
Initially expected to be included in the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, he was ultimately not selected by Cameroon head coach Rigobert Song.
Onana was included in the list of Cameroonian players selected by coach David Pagou to participate in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[16]
Personal life
In the early morning of 20 May 2024, Onana and OM teammate Faris Moumbagna were the victims of an armed robbery attempt while they were in their cars as they were leaving La Commanderie. Although neither were injured, two bullet holes were found on the driver's door on one of the vehicles.[17]
He's unrelated to André Onana despite sharing same surname.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 26 October 2025[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leixões | 2018–19 | Liga Portugal 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Lille | 2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mouscron (loan) | 2020–21 | Belgian Pro League | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 2 | |
| Bordeaux | 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 3 | |
| 2022–23 | Ligue 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 3 | |||
| Lens | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |
| Beşiktaş | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Marseille (loan) | 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Genoa (loan) | 2024–25 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| 2025–26 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 107 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 120 | 4 | ||
- ^ Includes Belgian Cup, Coupe de France, Turkish Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 9 January 2026[19]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 14 | 0 | |
Honours
Beşiktaş
References
- ^ "Player". Ligue 1. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Biography of Jean Onana | BeSoccer". BeSoccer. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Le milieu camerounais Jean Onana est Lillois | Lille LOSC". www.losc.fr.
- ^ "Lille vs. Olympique Marseille - 16 February 2020". Soccerway.
- ^ "Royal Excel Mouscron sign Ivorian and Lille centre back". Goal.com. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ "KV Kortrijk vs. Excel Mouscron - 13 September 2020". Soccerway.
- ^ "Junior Onana rejoint les Girondins" (in French). Bordeaux. 30 August 2021.
- ^ "Jean Onana, du coffre dans l'entrejeu" (in French). RC Lens. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Jean Onana switches to Beşiktaş". bjk.com.tr. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Kulübümüzden Bilgilendirme". Beşiktaş J.K. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Jean Onana, Marsilya'ya Geçici Transfer Oldu" [Jean Onana was temporarily transferred to Marseille] (in Turkish). Beşiktaş J.K. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Official: Genoa sign Onana and Ellertsson" [Official: Genoa sign Onana and Ellertsson]. onefootball.com. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
- ^ "Ufficiale il ritorno di Jean Onana" [Jean Onana's return is official] (in Italian). Genoa CFC. 1 September 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
- ^ "Japan v Cameroon game report". ESPN. 8 October 2020.
- ^ "Cameroon - J. Onana - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "André Onana et Vincent Aboubakar absents, Christian Kofane et Eric-Junior Dina Ebimbe appelés... La liste du Cameroun pour la CAN 2025". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ Gagnepain, Flavien; Décugis, Jean-Michel (20 May 2024). "Marseille : les footballeurs Onana et Moumbagna braqués, des impacts de balles retrouvés sur leurs voitures". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Jean Onana". Soccerway.
- ^ "Jean Onana". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ "Besiktas claims Turkcell Super Cup with 5-0 win over Galatasaray". Türkiye Today. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
External links
- Jean Onana at Soccerway.com
- Jean Onana at WorldFootball.net
- Jean Onana at Soccerbase.com
- Jean Onana at National-Football-Teams.com
- Jean Onana at ESPN FC
- Jean Onana at FBref.com
- Jean Onana at BDFutbol
- Jean Onana at kicker (in German)
- Jean Onana at the Turkish Football Federation
- Jean Onana at Ligue 1 (archived)
- Clermont Foot profile Archived 23 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine