Man Utd ‘salivating’ over January transfer for ‘ambidextrous’ Arsenal target despite ‘price exceeding’ £43m
Man Utd are keen on signing Everton midfielder Amadou Onana in January but could face competition from Barcelona, according to reports.
The Red Devils have had a poor first half of the season with Erik ten Hag’s men out of Europe after their 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich saw them finish bottom of their Champions League group.
They were also dumped out of the League Cup by Newcastle earlier this month and are currently a disappointing seventh in the Premier League after finishing in the top four last season.
And Ten Hag – whose position at the Premier League club has been coming under increasing pressure – is hopeful that the club will back him with as many as three signings in the winter transfer window.
The Man Utd boss wants a centre-back, a central midfielder and a striker in the summer transfer window with all three potential signings relying on other players leaving.
Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial are among the players who could leave the club in January with Ten Hag hoping to raise funds for incomings.
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Everton midfielder Onana, who has been linked to Arsenal too, is one player on Ten Hag’s list of targets with Foot Mercato claiming Man Utd, Barcelona and other European clubs ‘salivating’ over the ‘ambidextrous, physically impressive and very versatile’ Belgium international.
Catalan giants Barcelona have ‘spoke with the player’s entourage’ Onana, who has experienced a ‘rapid rise’, while Man Utd could go back in for him in January after failing to sign him the summer.
Reports in the summer claimed Man Utd approached Everton in an attempt to seal a deal for Onana before deciding to take Sofyan Amrabat on loan.
But the Belgium international insisted in September that his failure to move to Man Utd in the summer was “not at all a missed opportunity”.
“It’s not at all a missed opportunity,” Onana told Le Soir.
“In football, it’s all about timing. You have to be patient. And, in the meantime, I will continue to play football at Everton. A mythical club. I am very satisfied.”
And former Aston Villa striker said a few months ago that Onana could excel in a team that is performing further up the table but doubted the Red Devils ability to pay his asking price.
Agbonlahor told talkSPORT: “I do like Onana. But it’s difficult when you’re in a team that isn’t performing. If you put him in a good team, you’d probably see a really, really good player come through.
“But it’s apparent that Man United need to sell players to bring any in. Is that going to be a problem when Onana is likely to cost around £60million?”