Manchester United are reportedly interested in securing a summer transfer deal for Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana during the upcoming window.
In terms of the current goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford, they have David de Gea, Jack Butland and Tom Heaton all out of contract in the summer, although the club has an option to extend De Gea and Heaton’s deals for a further year.
With that in mind, it has been revealed that the Red Devils have set their sights on bringing a new shot-stopper in from one of Europe’s biggest clubs, but face some close competition in doing so.
According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), United, as well as their fellow Premier League clubs Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, are eyeing a summer transfer swoop for Onana.
The report also adds that while United are keen to keep hold of De Gea, his contract situation has caused the club to look at other options, such as Onana, who the Red Devils have apparently knocked on the door for.
After making 214 appearances for his previous club Ajax, during which he managed to keep 85 clean sheets, the 26-year-old joined Inter last summer on a free transfer.
Since then, the Cameroonian has kept 14 clean sheets in 28 appearances for the Italian club across all competitions.
Across his 17 Serie A appearances this season, Onana has faced 55 shots on target, saving 41 of them, leaving him with the third-highest save percentage (76.4%) in the division.
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In fact, this is a higher save percentage than De Gea (67.4%) has managed to total across his 26 Premier League appearances for Erik ten Hag’s side this season.
This highlights how much of a top goalkeeper the Inter star is and perhaps explains why he has three of England’s top sides looking to sign him.
Moving forward, if United are likely to see any of their current goalkeepers leave Old Trafford in the summer, we feel that they should do all they can to land Onana’s signature ahead of their top-flight rivals.
Whether Onana or De Gea would settle for a bench role, however, remains to be seen, which means Ten Hag would have plenty to ponder if he was to bring the Inter man to Old Trafford.
With the Spaniard spending over a decade at Old Trafford and remaining the undisputed No 1, it could be argued that it would be unlikely for De Gea to immediately give up his starting role and risk his time in Manchester fizzling out.
On the flip-side, given the FFP constraints that could be imposed on United’s spending amid their takeover saga, it may be considered a pointless exercise to have two top-class goalkeepers on high wages – so something surely has to give if Ten Hag is to pursue this transfer.