Arsenal may have a big advantage over several Premier League clubs in the race to sign Amadou Onana from Everton in the January transfer window. The 22-year-old has always been excellent under Sean Dyche, playing a big part in this season’s turnaround after they survived relegation on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign.
With eight wins from 20 games, Everton should be in twelfth place but are just above the relegation zone thanks to a 10-point deduction for breaching the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). In November, after a six-month investigation, the club was found to have breached financial rules, losing more than £105 million over a three-year period.
Due to their difficult financial situation, Everton may be forced to green-light some important sales to avoid further punishment, with Onana potentially among the victims. Against this backdrop, Football.london has learnt that the Gunners are exploring the possibility of signing the Belgian international, with a fee of £50 million said to be enough to approve the sale.
Given his potential and the quality he has already shown, this price could seem very low to some teams, with Manchester United and Chelsea also interested, in addition to Arsenal. However, Mikel Arteta and Edu need to be careful with their spending in the winter window after Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber signed for a combined £200 million.
With that in mind, Arteta admitted before the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool that Arsenal will not make any transfers in January, but another answer to the transfer question suggests that there is a chance of a deal being done for the right player and at the right price.
“We are open to the transfer market, but here again the emphasis is on making the most of what we have,” he said. “We will check with the club if we have any options or good options. We will first focus on the players we have.”
Onana could certainly be such a player and if Arsenal push to sign the central midfielder, Arteta could turn to last January’s signing to convince him that a move to the Emirates Stadium is the right one. This is, of course, Leandro Trossard, who also plays for the Belgian national team and has clearly established a good relationship with Onana.
The only obstacle could be the price, as Onana is probably aware that he will get a lot of playing time in North London due to injury problems. Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber are long-term absentees, while Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mohamed Elneny, Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who are missing due to muscle problems and international commitments, are expected to return in the next few weeks.