One of the big questions remaining over Manchester United summer business concerns their goalkeeper situation, with Gianluigi Donnarumma linked with an Old Trafford switch
Manchester United have been given new hope of finding the funds for Gianluigi Donnarumma through returning Andre Onana to Inter Milan. The Italian side are interested in bringing the keeper back to the San Siro just two years after selling him to United, it has been claimed.
Onana has had an up-and-down United career since reaching the Champions League final with Inter in 2023. He made a number of high-profile mistakes last season, though, prompting suggestions the Red Devils might look for an upgrade.
The keeper has been absent from pre-season matches while working his way back to full fitness, but head coach Ruben Amorim insisted injury was not behind his decision to leave Onana out against Arsenal on Sunday. “No (he is not injured), he’s recovered but the other guys did so well during pre-season, so I need to balance that,” Amorim said after picking Altay Bayindir and naming Tom Heaton on the bench.
United have been linked with a number of keepers as his replacement. The bulk of the noise concerns Gianluigi Donnarumma, who two former stars believe would be the right man for the job, while there has also been renewed interest in Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez.
Senne Lammens is also a target, with United and Inter both after the Belgian. However, according to The Sun, Inter are turning their attentions to Onana amid a feeling he would welcome a return to the club,
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If Inter do come in with a bid for Onana, it could well allow United to land Donnarumma despite interest from neighbours Manchester City. The Italian won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain last season but is thought to be available for as little at £26million after the French club’s summer move for Lucas Chevalier.
Such a move would please former United star Wayne Rooney. “Donnarumma, I think he’s 26, he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world, it would be crazy if Man United don’t go for him,” the former striker said on his podcast. “I don’t think he’s a risk. I saw a stat the other day – the errors leading direct to goals. His was zero,”
Rooney isn’t the only former United player insistent on an upgrade in goal. “It’s a glaring issue at United that cannot be ignored and that is that they do need to find a goalkeeper. They have to, I’m absolutely unequivocal on that,” former skipper Gary Neville said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“In my 20 years at Man United we had two periods of seven or eight years with [Peter] Schmeichel and [Edwin] Van der Sar and in between we had seven or eight goalkeepers in a six, seven, eight-year period and it’s really unsettling when you don’t have a dominant No.1 who is 6ft 2in, dominant in the air and owns his six-yard box and comes and punches everything and makes a lot of saves one-on-one and saves you points when your defenders make mistakes.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
