Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is intent on signing Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana this summer after Pep Guardiola lavished praise on the Cameroon international.
The Red Devils are keen to sign a new goalkeeper to replace David de Gea, who is out of contract and is no longer a United player. As revealed by Mirror Football , United sources have indicated they are in ‘preliminary discussions’ over signing Onana.
Ten Hag had initially drawn up a three-man shortlist for signing a goalkeeper this summer which included Brentford goalkeeper David Raya and Diogo Costa of Porto but Onana has emerged as the firm favourite, having been coached by Ten Hag at Ajax, and with Inter’s ongoing financial concerns.
It is believed that United value Onana at £40million with Inter holding out for a fee closer to £50m, although no formal negotiation process has yet taken place. There have been early talks between the two clubs and despite the disparity in price, there is hope at United’s end that a deal can be done.
That is the same process that saw United land Mason Mount from Chelsea – with a £10m valuation in price between the two, with the back-and-forth between the clubs eventually finding a compromise with the entire value closer to the selling club’s valuation, but with performance-based stipulations.
Onana impressed for the Milanese giants on their run to the Champions League final and excelled under Ten Hag at Ajax. He is comfortable playing the ball out from the back and at emerging from his penalty area to clear danger – two qualities that De Gea did not show during his United spell.
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Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti is quoted as saying by TuttoMercatoWeb, as cited by Sport Witness : “When you have important players it’s normal that there are requests, but for now Onana is one of our players and we hope to keep all the important ones.
“The transfer market has just begun, anything can change, but Inter have always shown themselves at the top when building important teams.”
Ahead of the Champions League final, Guardiola replied when asked by Thierry Henry for CBS Sports on the City challenge of facing a defensive five: “When you make a switch of play, it is more difficult against a back five because they have more width and numbers spread out. But it is not just the structure of having those numbers that makes Inter difficult.
“The goalkeeper, Onana, makes it really difficult to deploy a high press against. You cannot press the goalkeeper properly. They are masters at keeping the ball.”
Guardiola continued, when comparing Inter to United’s approach with an implicit correlation between the goalkeeper: “If you look at United, for example, it is long ball. With Rashford and another one (forward) to run onto.
“But Inter are different, they keep the ball. That is why you have to think about what you have to do. With the ball, Inter are very, very good – that is why they are in the Champions League final. We have great respect and admiration for how they play but we have to find a way to beat them.”
Guardiola had also praised Inter goalkeeper Onana ahead of the final in a press conference: "For the way they play, with the high press, Onana is an exceptional goalkeeper to take the position to build-up. Really, really good."
