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The end of an era at Manchester United might be approaching as David de Gea’s time at the club looks to be coming to a conclusion.
Fabrizio Romano reports that the club met with Andre Onana’s agent, Albert Botines, in Manchester as they explore options in case De Gea leaves.
It marks the first concrete step United have taken to strengthen the goalkeeping department. Previously, there have been reports of interest in Diogo Costa of FC Porto, David Raya of Brentford, and Everton’s Jordan Pickford but they didn’t appear to go any further than the reported interest.
Romano states that Onana won’t be sold for less than €50m with add-ons.
It is a reasonable fee, considering the Cameroonian joined Inter just last year and displaced long-serving Samir Handanovic within a few months.
He played a starring role in Nerazzurri’s dream run to the UEFA Champions League final, where he particularly covered himself in glory with a commanding performance.
Raya, for context, is valued at £40 million by Brentford, with Pickford’s reported price being around £45 million. Diogo Costa is the costliest option with figures north of £70 million quoted for him.
In Onana, Red Devils will get a perfect modern goalkeeper more suited to manager Erik ten Hag’s playing style demands. He has previous with the manager too. He broke out at Ajax, becoming a key player for Ten Hag’s Ajax side which thrilled the world with their Champions League exploits in the 2018/19 season.
He is elite at playing out the ball from the back, sometimes almost acting as another centre-back during the build-up play. He earned rave reviews for his ball-progressing skills in the UCL final where his dribbles outside the area regularly beat the press of Manchester City.
Those skills would be a welcome addition in De Gea’s place, who struggled for form last season and is ill-suited to such a style of play.
The four-time Player of the Year award winner will undoubtedly go down in the club’s history as a legend but it can be argued that football has left him behind. In that context, it made little sense for the club to carry his heavy wages anymore, even with a reported pay cut.
A player like Onana has the potential to have the same transformative effect on the team that Alisson and Ederson had on Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.
While the deal remains some way off a conclusion, solid steps towards making it a reality mean that United are aware of De Gea’s future and their own need to upgrade the position.
