2
Last night’s claims from Italy that Manchester United and Inter Milan have struck a deal for the transfer of goalkeeper Andre Onana were premature, but the deal is practically done.
This is the opinion of both Corriere dello Sport (CdS) and Gazzetta dello Sport (GdS), Italy’s two main outlets, in today’s paper editions.
Fans will be frustrated after a week of hearing that a deal is close and for three consecutive days we have been hearing that “today is Onana day” from the press.
This morning, CdS (paper edition, page 6) say that “The goalkeeper showed up in Appiano for the first day of training but now everything is almost done for his move to the Premier League.
“The Red Devils have finally exceeded 50 million and Inter have dropped to 55: we need a last mutual effort. Today we can close.”
CdS explains that the situation was starting to become tense, with Inter refusing to budge from their valuation and United threatening to pull out. However, a breakthrough – or “decisive acceleration” was reached during a conference call yesterday evening that is “destined to become definitive”.
The outlet says there are just some add-ons to resolve with the flat fee now agreed.
They conclude that “today can truly be the day of the white smoke”.
Gazzetta, who have been unusually accurate on this topic, confirms CdS’s story (today’s paper edition, p6), saying that “the Nerazzurri’s go-ahead is already expected today”.
They claim that “the Cameroonian is now definitively on his way to Manchester.
“After the small slowdowns of the past few days, travel has returned to speed and by now the agreement is so close that it can be touched by hand.”
GdS say that all structural aspects had already been agreed, including “payment in 4 tranches, agreement on the solidarity contribution divided between the clubs, agreement also on the amount of the variable part of 5 million,” but that United were still falling short of the magic €50m flat fee figure, which they have now tabled.
With transfer guru Fabrizio Romano also having said last night that the deal is “hours away”, only United’s negotiators’ propensity to make everything unnecessarily painful and complicated should stand in the way of a deal being fully agreed.
📸👋🏻 André Onana on his final dinner in Milano, here at Javier Zanetti’s Botinero restaurant.
Manchester United and Inter are closing in on final details of the deal. 🔴🇨🇲
All parties expect Onana to become new Man United player in the next hours.
Almost there ⏳⌛️ pic.twitter.com/VUWegECsaZ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 13, 2023
