Brentford midfielder Onyeka makes Premier League debut against Arsenal

Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka is making his Premier League debut in Friday’s opening match against Arsenal.

The Nigeria international moved to Brentford Community Stadium on a five-year deal from FC Midtjylland in July, and he joins Vitaly Janelt in strengthening the Bees’ midfield.

Prior to Friday's match, Onyeka delivered impressive performances for the 2021 Championship play-offs winners in a pre-season friendly outings against Valencia and Manchester United, which include scoring a goal against the Spanish club.

Another African star in Thomas Frank's team is DR Congo winger Yoane Wissa but the 24-year-old is starting on the bench as he just completed a permanent move from Lorient two days ago.

Onyeka earned his maiden invitation to the Super Eagles in September 2020 and he made his debut for the three-time African champions in a 1-0 defeat to Algeria in October 2020.

On the other hand, Nigeria descent Folarin Balogun led Arsenal's attack in the absence of Gabon captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who has missed the Gunners' training sessions in the last two days.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast's Nicolas Pepe has got a spot on the right side of the attack and DR Congolese descent Albert Sambi Lokonga got the nod ahead of Egypt's Mohamed Elneny in the middle of the park.

Upon Onyeka’s arrival at Brentford, Frank described the 23-year-old who scored three goals in 27 Danish Superliga matches last season as a strong addition to his team.

“I am looking forward to getting Frank in the building. We think he is a strong addition to the squad, and we are looking forward to working with him. He is a very dynamic player,” Frank said.

“Frank plays as an eight in our system, he is very good at getting from box to box and will be valuable to us when we don’t have the ball. He has come from the Danish league and was one of the best midfield players in that league; we think he has the potential to develop further.

“All the coaches here are looking forward to working with Frank and pushing him to a higher level.”