Chris Wheatley of Football.London will undoubtedly have excited the entire Arsenal fanbase with an extremely encouraging update on the Gunners’ interest in signing Andre Onana from Ajax this summer.
Wheatley was named in one Arsenal supporter’s starting eleven in relation to the best accounts to follow for Gooners on Twitter, the reporter was slotted in at goalkeeper.
Wheatley then teased that ‘Onana’ is his name when another fan reiterated that he’d need to be good at playing the ball out of the back to start between the sticks.
The fan then asked Wheatley about the chances of Arsenal recruiting Andre Onana from Ajax, to which the Football.London journalist replied that the signing is ‘very likely’.
Onana is currently serving a 12-month doping suspension that was handed out by UEFA at the start of February, but the Cameroonian insists all he did was take some of his wife’s medication when he was unwell, with that unfortunately consisting of a banned substance.
Onana, that’s my name.
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) June 9, 2021
Waiting on the outcome of the appeal which will decide the final fee. Very likely to join.
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) June 9, 2021
Onana has appealed the suspension from UEFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with Goal reporting that the ace’s team want the ban overturned completely or reduced to six to eight months at least.
Wheatley adds that the outcome of the appeal will ‘decide the final fee’ that the Gunners shell out for the 25-year-old, suggesting that he will be signed by the club regardless of what the legal result is.
NOS recently reported that the talented stopper would command a fee of between €6m-€9m if the ban was reduced, however he’d be available for the minimal fee of €2m if the ruling is upheld.
Were Onana to be recruited, Mikel Arteta may have himself a new No.1, leaving the Gunners to move on from Bernd Leno – who has experienced a mixed spell with the club.
Onana has performed excellently for Ajax, whom he joined from the academy of Barcelona, with the Cameroon international having made 204 appearances for the Dutch powerhouses.
The stopper will be available for a cut-price fee regardless it seems, which isn’t surprising considering that the 6ft3 star is just entering the final year of his contract with the Amsterdam outfit.
Onana good