Andrea Onana looks set to join Inter next summer on a free transfer in spite of rumours linking him to French club Lyon during this window.
This according to French journalist Nabil Djellit, who reported on twitter that a deal is in place that will see the Cameroonian goalkeeper join the Nerazzurri when his contract expires at the end of June 2022.
He reports further that talks with Lyon were just a way for the player to make current club Ajax believe that he intended to move for a fee this summer rather than leaving next summer for free.
Onana has been linked to Inter during the window as a long-term successor for Samir Handanovic, with the Slovenian 37 years old and currently not expected to sign a renewal on his contract which runs out next summer.
The 25-year-old can leave his current club for free at the end of June 2022, and the Nerazzurri could see him as a bargain option to replace Handanovic without a major drop-off in quality.
It now appears that the club have gotten their man, with an agreement in place that he will arrive at the Giuseppe Meazza next summer once he is out of contract with the Dutch giants.
The player’s situation is complicated by the fact that he is still serving a twelve-month doping ban, from which he will return in November, but this will be of no relevance to the Nerazzurri who will only bring the player in next summer.
The Cameroonian had been strongly linked with Lyon earlier in the summer, with the French club reportedly in advanced talks and ready to finalize a deal for him.
However, it now appears that the player’s preference had been Inter along, according to Djellit, and that the talks with Lyon were nothing more than a way to conceal his intentions from Ajax while he sorted out an agreement with the Nerazzurri.