Inter could be forced into selling goalkeeper Andre Onana this summer, with Premier League duo Manchester United and Chelsea lurking with interest.
This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who report that the Nerazzurri could find themselves needing to listen to offers for the Cameroonian if they miss out on Champions League football next season.
Inter’s plan has certainly never been to sell Onana just twelve months after he was signed from Ajax.
The 27-year-old arrived from the Dutch giants on a free transfer last summer, and was seen as the long-term successor to Samir Handanovic in the Nerazzurri goal.
In terms of performances on the pitch, this is certainly still how Onana is seen by Inter, but then there is the financial side of things to think about.
The Nerazzurri are teetering on the edge of missing out on a top four spot in the Serie A table, and if the team fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League either this way or with the most improbable of triumphs in this season’s edition of the competition, they’ll have to make tough decisions.
A big name sale would be likely if Inter miss out on the Champions League, as the club would have to make up for big budgetary shortfalls from not having Champions League revenues.
Whilst wingback Denzel Dumfries has been a name linked as the likeliest player to be sold for a big fee over the past few months, Inter will have to reckon with the fact that the Dutchman’s price tag has fallen precipitously as his form has gotten worse and worse.
Accordingly, it could be Onana who the Nerazzurri turn to in order to generate the big transfer fee that they need.
The Cameroonian’s outstanding displays in his first season at the San Siro, particularly in the Champions League, have not escaped the attentions of big clubs in the Premier League.
The Corriere report that Man United and Chelsea are the two teams most keen on the Inter goalkeeper, with both thinking about a change in goal this summer.
Given that Onana arrived at Inter without a transfer fee last summer, a big money sale would represent a huge capital gain for the Nerazzurri, and in the event that they find themselves having to make up for a lack of Champions League, United and Chelsea could well test their resolve.
