Arsenal eye bargain Andre Onana transfer as possible Bernd Leno replacement

Arsenal Looking to Sign Andre Onana from Ajax for £7m

Only Arsenal could look to sign a player with a major ‘if’ plastered across his face.

Onana is name that has drifted away from the limelight in recent months, for a quite obvious reason. One of the stars of Ajax’s brilliant run to the Champions League semi-finals two years ago, the Cameroonian keeper has been out of action since February for failing an out-of-competition doping test. It was claimed by Ajax that their number one accidentally took medicine prescribed for his wife.

Handed a 12-month suspension as a result, he is currently fighting against the ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) set to hear his appeal in June before a verdict is given later that month. If successful, Onana will have his sentence shortened to eight months, which means he could train with the club in June before being back in action two months later. He’s currently not allowed to be with the squad and is training elsewhere.

As per Goal, Arsenal held a strong interest in Onana back in January before he was hit with the ban, only pulling out of the deal due to the money Ajax demanded. However, the situation has now altered and the Dutch side are open to selling the 25-year-old with his contract set to expire in 2022.

Holding out for £12m, it’s stated an offer in the region of £7m would be enough to tempt Ajax into doing business.

Of course, Arsenal will hold out to discover the verdict of his appeal to CAS, but their interest is ‘strong’ and given their tight budget a goalkeeper of his calibre for that price is an opportunity to snatch at.

Whether this indicates the end of the line for Leno isn’t known. That said, Ryan may well be kept on for longer than his six month loan deal, while selling Leno with two years left on his contract could inject some added funding come the summer.

Signed for £22.5m, Arsenal would surely look to recoup close to that, and replacing him with a cheaper alternative who is highly rated across the continent, as well as being younger, might actually constitute some of the smartest business they could do.

If any deal were to conclude, Onana would join Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe, Thomas Party and potentially Mohamed Elneny in jetting off to AFCON in the coming winter. However, that’s what backup goalkeepers are for, right?