La Liga giants Barcelona are out in the market looking to sign a new defensive midfielder and according to Spanish outlet Sport, Deco is now serious about signing Everton’s Amadou Onana.
Everton had signed Amadou Onana from Lille just two years ago for a fee of around €35 million but now they need to balance their books which is why the club are ready to cash in on the midfielder if a team is willing to put €60 million on the table.
Onana has been a really influential player for the Toffees and by the looks of it, several major clubs want to sign him this summer. Apart from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and also Manchester United have been heavily linked with the Belgium international and at €60 million, he is kind of a bargain signing.
Should Barcelona be trying to sign Amadou Onana?
Amadou Onana is currently valued at €50 million and in just two seasons, the defensive midfielder has played in 63 Premier League games for Everton. This season, he featured in 30 league matches and had a rating of 7 out of 10.
In 2090 minutes of league football, the Belgium international won 38 tackles, won 180 duels along with 21 interceptions and 8 blocks. He is an out-and-out defensive midfielder who likes to sit back and screen the backline as an additional line of defence.
He got his first international cap in the summer of 2022 and since then, he has played in 17 games for the Belgium national team.
Barcelona currently have Oriol Romeu and 20-year-old Marc Casadó as the two recognised CDMs so there’s definitely a need to bring a new player into that position before the next season kicks off. Having said that, not many top CDMs are currently available in the market so at €60 million Amadou Onana seems a very justified and logical choice.
Barca have also been linked with Joshua Kimmich but the rumours are suggesting that the 29-year-old prefers a move to Manchester City.
Will Barca be able to land the 22-year-old before the other suitors?
Amadou Onana, at 22, can be the ideal addition to the Barcelona squad but the Catalans will have to fend off a lot of interest in order to bring him to Camp Nou.
Arsenal and Manchester United have been linked with the midfielder for the past couple of months but in recent weeks, the links to Bayern Munich have kept on growing and some experts believe that the Bavarians are the current favourites to sign him up.
As is, Barcelona will find it tough to pay €60 million for the Everton midfielder but if teams like Arsenal and Man United start a transfer battle then the Spanish side will fall out of this race in a jiffy. The club have gone back to the 1:1 rule which means they will have to bring in every penny they wish to spend this summer.
Everton are selling Amadou Onana only because they need money and if a team is willing to pay more than €60 million, they will accept it with open arms. While Bayern Munich will be able to compete with the cash-rich English teams, there’s no way Barcelona can spend around €70-75 million on the Belgium international.
The only way, he comes into the Barca squad is by rejecting all other offers but as of now, Onana has shown no signs that he favours a move to Barcelona over the other interested teams.
