Chelsea, Tottenham already ‘made moves’ for Ajax’s André Onana, who wants PSG — report

According to a report from L’Équipe (via Get French Football News), Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur “have already made moves” for the potential acquisition of goalkeeper André Onana, who is also a target for Paris Saint-Germain.

The claim that Onana will be allowed to leave Ajax in the upcoming transfer window is not exactly news, but L’Equipe claim to know the 24-year-old’s preferences as well. He is apparently looking forward to playing in a league that carries more prestige than the Eredivisie, identifying potential options in England, Germany, Spain, and, perhaps most pertinently, France, where he finds a certain project “attractive”.

PSG’s interest in Onana is old (in footballing terms), as they reportedly “made enquiries” last summer before choosing Keylor Navas, who lost his place at Real Madrid to former Chelsea snake Thibaut Courtois. Now PSG are in the market again for a goalkeeper, although they are looking for a competitor rather than a replacement for the 34-year-old veteran.

Despite the mutual interest, L’Equipe says that PSG will need to move quickly, in order to not lose out to Chelsea or Tottenham (or Barcelona). That doesn’t really make sense if Onana actually has his heart set on PSG, which L’Equipe also seem to claim, so at the end of the day, it’s just another transfer rumor with multiple outs and nothing concrete to say.

It is of course in Onana’s interest to generate a few transfer rumors, and help create a bidding war for both his transfer fee and his future wages, with a pre-coronavirus price of around €30m sure to generate plenty of action. Chelsea could have a potential advantage through Hakim Ziyech, should we actually be interested and choose to go down this route.