Everton midfielder Amadou Onana rejected the opportunity to move away from the club in January, his agent has revealed.

Arsenal were linked with the £51million-rated Belgian, who has also been tipped to draw interest from Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester United and Barcelona.

But a transfer failed to come off last month and the player’s agent and sister, Melissa Onana, has detailed why.

“We could have left this winter,” she told the Noya Dur YouTube show, via Sport Witness. “But we once again sat down and asked the question whether it’s the right time, if the player is ready. My job is to put opportunities on the table.

“In the end, he’s the one who makes the choice because it’s his life and his career. I put the opportunities on the table and he said ‘No, I want to stay at Everton and I want to continue to fight’.”

Relegation-threatened Everton are reportedly prepared to cash in on Onana this summer amid their ongoing financial difficulties.

“I’m lucky that my brother is intelligent,” his agent added. “Which isn’t the case for all players.

“So I give him the pros and the cons of a situation that’s on the table. We talk about it, he asks me my opinion, and I say, ‘This is what I think’. Then, he makes his choice.

“Personally, I’m also not a fan of transfers during the winter. Often, it’s to put a stop to a bad situation. It’s clubs that are trying to turn a situation around after the transfers they did in the summer. They are clubs that are bleeding, trying to find a plaster.”