Fabrizio Romano responds to reports of Arsenal hijack

Carlo Garganese
Carlo Garganese
  • 9 Jan 2024 06:30 CST
  • 3 min read
Fabrizio Romano's latest Arsenal transfer news
© ProShots

Fabrizio Romano has responded to reports that Arsenal have joined Manchester United in the race to sign Everton star Amadou Onana.

Article continues under the video

FootballTransfers exclusively revealed on Monday that United have initiated talks with the Everton midfielder over a January move.

Sources have told us that head coach Erik ten Hag wanted the 22-year-old instead of Sofyan Amrabat in the summer, but they simply didn't have the funds to buy him at the time.

We are informed that money is there to bring in one significant signing in January, while the rest would be loan deals.

Everton, meanwhile, are interested in Scott McTominay and so some kind of exchange could be discussed between the clubs.

There have been reports elsewhere that Arsenal have also joined United in the race to sign Onana but Romano says there isn’t anything too concrete yet.

Man Utd want to sign Onana
© ProShots - Man Utd want to sign Onana

What did Romano say about Onana?

“I’m aware there have been some big claims being made about Arsenal intensifying negotiations to sign Amadou Onana from Everton. Of course this has some Gunners fans excited, but I’m afraid it’s not quite the information I have for the moment,” Romano told CaughtOffside for his exclusive Daily Briefing column.

“My understanding is that Onana has always been one of the players appreciated by Arsenal but I don’t have more concrete updates than that just yet. Let’s see in the next days what happen, but for Arsenal it remains time to discuss internally before making concrete bids.”

Arsenal are in the market for a central midfielder due to Thomas Partey’s constant injury problems this season.

The Gunners are in a bad run of form and have slipped to fourth place in the Premier League after picking up just one point from their last three games.

They also have just one win in their last seven matches in all competitions.

Don’t miss the next big transfer!

Get the latest transfer insights and analyses directly in your mailbox.