Manchester United are now really close to completing the transfer of Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana, according to Fabrizio Romano in the latest edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
The Red Devils ultimately decided to allow David de Gea to leave Old Trafford this summer after a long and great career, and it looks like progress is being made on bringing in Onana to replace him as the club’s number one.
Romano says De Gea wanted to stay at Man Utd, but he’s now considering his options and will take his time to come to a decision together with his family, with Saudi Arabia looking a possibility for him.
“Manchester United are now really close to completing the signing of Andre Onana. I’ve been told it should be sealed by the end of next week. The Inter Milan goalkeeper has already agreed personal terms, and a bid should come in soon, with United keen to have him on their pre-season tour in the US,” Romano said.
“Of course, this follows the departure of David de Gea, which was finally confirmed yesterday. De Gea will now assess his options in the next few days. Some Saudi club has approached him but there’s nothing advanced yet, he wants to take his time on this decision together with his family.
“He wanted to sign a new contract, he was keen on signing that, but Manchester United decided to invest big on new goalkeeper, in this case Andre Onana, who is now really close, as mentioned above.”
While many United fans may well be disappointed with how this whole saga has been handled, De Gea’s time was probably up, and could even arguably have come a year or two earlier, with Onana looking a potentially superb replacement in goal.