On Thursday, Sportitalia reported Manchester United will have a conference call with Inter Milan to finalise a deal for André Onana. Later that day, Gianluca Di Marzio said the talks between the two clubs have been positive and are ‘close to reaching an agreement’.
Friday’s Corriere dello Sport gives an insight into the talks between the Red Devils and the Serie A side.
It’s stated Manchester United ‘threatened’ to look for another goalkeeper after Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta and their sporting director, Piero Ausilio, refused to lower their demands.
During the conference call, Inter, who earlier demanded €60m including bonuses for Onana, dropped the asking price to €55m. Manchester United, on the other hand, have agreed to pay at least €50m in fixed fee.
The report states the bonuses would be decisive as it’s ‘now a matter of a few million’. They add the distance between the two clubs is ‘minimal’, so much so that there’s belief believe the deal could be closed today or at worst, over this weekend.
According to Pedullà, Inter ‘understood they can’t push too hard’ and the deal could be probably closed for €53m [which could be €48m plus €5m in bonuses or €50m plus €3m in bonuses].
Simone Inzaghi’s side will ‘still try to raise a little’, and whether that’s possible remains to be seen.
