Having sold Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa and seen him blossom beyond their wildest imagination into an Argentinian hero, Arsenal are now stuck without a proper backup goalkeeper to challenge Bernd Leno.
That’s why they are trying to sign Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United, although the potential £24m fee with bonuses, as reported by Football.London, is raising a few eyebrows.
It seems unlikely that the former England U21 international would immediately displace his German counterpart, meaning the money spent is a tad questionable, especially when there were cheaper alternatives out there.
One of those was André Onana, who saw his ban reduced and who will be available sooner than expected, as the Cameroon international’s contract will expire in 2022 and Ajax Amsterdam have already planned their future without him.
Corriere dello Sport explain on Wednesday that Arsenal ‘asked for information’ about the 25-year-old, but it appears it’s Inter who will win the race for his services as they prepare the post Samir Handanovic era.
Onana reportedly turned down Lyon, and the belief is he will be the one to ‘take over Handanovic’s legacy’, as the veteran could be allowed to leave on a free next summer.
While he might remain beyond that in a similar role to Gianluigi Buffon’s at Juventus before his move to Paris Saint-Germain, it would be up to the Cameroonian to shoulder most of the work.
So far, nobody at Inter ‘gives the agreement with Onana as a fact and the deal is only put out as a possibility’, but Corriere’s information suggests ‘the negotiation is much more advanced than what is said’ because he ‘wants an experience in Serie A’ where the San Siro side ‘are now just waiting to take him on a free transfer in June’.
Despite Arsenal’s approach, ‘Inter feel confident in their position and expect André in 10 months time’.
Maybe the Gunners simply didn’t want to wait that long to bring in Leno’s competition, who knows?
