Ten Hag called Manchester United target ‘masterful’ but £45m move may be blocked

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Manchester United’s hopes of bringing a David de Gea replacement to the Premier League have suffered a blow with Serie A giants Inter Milan making it clear that Andre Onana has not been put up for sale.

Then again, just because the Cameroon international is not on the transfer market just now, that does not mean he won’t be at some point over the summer.

Inter’s financial issues dictate that they may have to sell at least one key player. And Andre Onana, despite only arriving on a free from Ajax a year ago, remains one of their most ‘sellable’ assets, despite what Moratta may say in public.

“We don’t want to put him up for sale,” says Inter’s former Juventus chief, via FCInterNews.

Andre Onana could be a David de Gea upgrade for Manchester United

The key word here, meanwhile, may be ‘want’. Inter do not ‘want’ to sell Onana. But they may have little choice in the matter. Just like in 2021, when a side who won the Scudetto under Antonio Conte were forced to let Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi go in big-money deals to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.

Onana, according to Italian market expert Gianluca di Marzio, is valued at around £45 million. Both Manchester United and Chelsea are keen.

A one-time Barcelona youngster, Onana possesses the kind of confidence in possession that you would expect given his La Masia roots.

This very modern 27-year-old goalkeeper is also particularly au fait with Erik ten Hag’s preferred possession based style. He played under the Red Devils boss – and alongside both Lisandro Martinez and Antony – Ajax.

Ten Hag even described Onana, at the time, as a ‘masterful goalkeeper’.

Dominik Livakovic, Bart Verbruggen, Diogo Costa, Leopold Wahlstedt and David Raya are also on Manchester United’s radar. The Carabao Cup winners looking for a more technically-capable goalkeeper to provide competition for the much-maligned David de Gea.

Onana averages 37 passes per game in Serie A, at a success rate of 79 per cent. De Gea’s pass accuracy, in contrast, comes in at a rather miserable 68 per cent (WhoScored).