Arsenal overtaken by Ligue 1 side in chase for serious Leno competition
Arsenal have reportedly suffered a blow to their hopes of signing highly-rated Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana this summer.
Voetbal International’s Freek Jansen claimed last week that the Gunners were in ‘pole position’ to sign the stopper. Jansen also stressed that the 25-year-old would not play for the Amsterdam giants next season, with his last appearance for the club being the 3-0 win over AZ Alkmaar back in January.
He received a 12-month ban from UEFA after testing positive for the usage of a banned substance. That sentence has since been reduced to nine, meaning Onana can return to the pitch from November onwards.
Despite the Cameroon international’s current situation, Mikel Arteta remains keen on doing a deal for the player.
However, the north London side will face competition from Monaco for the player’s signature.
Foot Mercato, as cited by Sport Witness, states that the Ligue 1 outfit are closely following the Ajax man’s situation. That is despite their priority being to sign Bayern Munich’s Alexander Nubel instead.
The report adds that Monaco will move for Onana if a deal for Nubel does not go through.
That could signal bad news for the Gunners, who want the player to provide stiffer competition to Bernd Leno.
Onana, however, has been warned about making the switch to the Premier League by a Dutch legend.
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Arsenal destined for more transfer misery
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s plan to make a more than £30million bid for Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli will not matter amid his transfer preference, a report claims.
The Gunners reportedly monitored his progress as he played 73 minutes of Italy’s Euro 2020 win over Turkey last Friday. He also scored twice in Wednesday night’s win over Switzerland.
Since then, though, Juventus have made Locatelli a firm target alongside Bayern Munich’s Corentin Tolisso.
Furthermore, according to the latest from Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italy international would prefer to move to the Serie A giants and stay in his home country.
Such a move would render Arsenal’s plans to bid €40million (£34million) for the midfielder largely pointless.
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