Chelsea have an advantage over Arsenal in the race to sign Amadou Onana from Everton in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Toffees midfielder has caught the eye at Goodison Park since joining from French side Lille in 2022 for a reported £33m including add-ons.
His performances have attracted interest from Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Barcelona and others as Everton get set for summer bids.
Reports claim that Everton are hoping the sale of Onana will help the club’s financial position with the Toffees setting a starting price of €60m for his departure.
Belgian outlet Voetbalkrant claim that after spending big on Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice last summer, Arsenal are now in a ‘financial struggle’ as they look to avoid spending huge sums without transfer exits.
That means that Arsenal will not ‘go higher than €50m’ for Onana, who wants to leave 18th-placed Everton in the summer, while Barcelona are limiting themselves to €40m.
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And that could allow Chelsea to swoop in and land Onana after Mauricio Pochettino’s side ‘already started negotiations’ to sign the Everton midfielder.
The advantage Chelsea have over Arsenal and Barcelona is their ‘willingness to pay a lot of money’ for Onana despite spending north of £200m on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez over the last year or so.
The Athletic‘s David Ornstein insists Chelsea’s midfield ‘is well set’ ahead of the summer transfer window while it would make sense for Arsenal to chase Onana if they sell Thomas Partey.
On Arsenal interest in Onana, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said in January: “I’m aware there have been some big claims being made about Arsenal intensifying negotiations to sign Amadou Onana from Everton. Of course, this has some Gunners fans excited, but I’m afraid it’s not quite the information I have for the moment.
“My understanding is that Onana has always been one of the players appreciated by Arsenal but I don’t have more concrete updates than that just yet. Let’s see in the next days what happens, but for Arsenal, it remains time to discuss internally before making concrete bids.
“We know Arsenal have issues in midfield because Thomas Partey has barely played this season due to injury. Onana is a fine talent who could offer something similar in midfield, but it’s still early to know what will happen with Onana, and also with Partey.
“If you remember in the summer, Partey was already considered as candidate for sale until the end of June, but then Mikel Arteta decided to keep him; so anything can happen there in the summer. For now, it’s very quiet, as he’s injured now so there are no concrete updates so far.”
