Manchester United close on André Onana deal and target Rasmus Højlund
Manchester United are moving swiftly to clinch a deal for André Onana, the Internazionale goalkeeper, and are also hopeful of bolstering their attack by signing Atalanta’s Rasmus Højlund.
United kickstarted their summer business earlier this week by signing Mason Mount from Chelsea for £55m and they are set to keep spending. Erik ten Hag has decided to devote a large portion of his budget towards replacing David de Gea with a new No 1 goalkeeper and has set his sights on Onana, who wants to move to Old Trafford.
Inter signed the former Ajax goalkeeper on a free transfer earlier this year and have been asking for a fee of over €50m (£42.7m). United have been looking to reach an agreement on a lower price for Onana, who played for Ten Hag at Ajax, and have made significant progress during talks with Inter over the past two days.
The arrival of Onana, who was previously a target for Chelsea, will raise further questions over De Gea’s future. De Gea has not signed a new deal, meaning he is a free agent, and his performances were inconsistent last season. There have been suggestions the Spaniard could move to Saudi
Arabia.
One area that has given De Gea problems under Ten Hag is his kicking. Onana, who helped Inter reach the Champions League final last season, is far more adept with the ball at his feet. He is viewed as a key signing by Ten Hag. United are also determined to sign a striker and had initially planned to move for Harry Kane. But Tottenham are adamant Kane will not be sold this summer, forcing Ten Hag to look at other alternatives. It is expected that United will bring in Højlund, who scored nine goals in 32 league games last season.
It remains to be seen how much it will take to sign the Denmark international. Atalanta had initially set the 20-year-old’s valuation at €100m (£85.4m) but United are likely to start the bidding at £50m. United have also considered Victor Osimhen but Napoli want €150m (£128.2m) for the Nigeria striker.