Man Utd face shock Onana claim: Inter were prepared to sell for £6m

Robin Bairner

• 15 Jan 2024 06:33 GMT
• 2 min read

Manchester United have been told they dramatically overspent on Andre Onana in the summer, in an unlikely claim over the Cameroon international keeper.

Onana completed a €50 million transfer from Inter to Man Utd at the beginning of July as the Red Devils scrambled to find a replacement for David de Gea, who departed as a free agent after his contract was surprisingly not renewed.

One source claims that the Old Trafford side paid well over the odds for the shot-stopper, who was coming off a campaign in Serie A in which he helped the Nerazzurri to third in the standings.

Former Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham scout Bryan King has claimed that Inter were prepared to sell Onana for just a fraction of the price that United paid for him.

He told Football Insider: “Ten Hag hasn’t given me any confidence that Man United are a side that can win the Premier League. That must come from the people he’s brought in.

“A friend of mine knows the sporting director at Inter Milan and they were prepared to let Onana go for about £6 million [€7m].

“Then, all of a sudden, an email comes in offering over £50m [€58m] for him. Of course, they’re not going to ask them to readjust their bid.”

Man Utd paid a fair price for Onana

While United have been known to overpay for players in the past, most notably with winger Antony, who Ajax could not believe they got €95m for, Onana’s price did not seem so out of step with his valuation as claimed.

He had played excellently at Inter, and while his price was inflated, this appeared to be the result of Man Utd’s desperation to secure a goalkeeper following the unexpected departure of De Gea.

Onana’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) when he moved to Old Trafford was around €20m – far above the €7m figure it is claimed Inter were ready to accept – while his current ETV has risen to nearly €45m, despite teething problems at his new club, showing that Man Utd’s purchase on this occasion was not dramatically overpriced.