It’s become well known in Catalonia that Everton midfielder Amadou Onana would be the preferred option in midfield to fill the void left by Sergio Busquets a year ago. However the difficulty of pulling off that deal has also never been in doubt.
Onana has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in recent months, and now Sport say that Everton have taken the decision to let the Senegalese go this summer, along with central defender Jarrad Branthwaite, in order to bolster the club’s finances. However they will try to extract a large fee for the 22-year-old.
🚨 Atletico Madrid is interested in Todibo, and Barcelona has reserved 20% of any future sale of the player. If the transfer happens, Barca could potentially use that money to reduce the transfer fee for João Félix's move to Barcelona. @sport pic.twitter.com/FZLgNVoBXr
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) April 19, 2024
Recent reports have suggested that he could leave for as little as €50m, but the Catalan daily say their demands will be at least €70m. Barcelona have been in touch with Onana’s agents in recent months, and they have also suggested to Everton that they would be willing to exchange players to bring down the price tag for Onana, but Chelsea are leading the race for his signature, as they would be willing to pay the price tag the Toffees are demanding.
It looks set to be another difficult transfer market for Barcelona, who are lacking in funds while their needs are plentiful. It will likely involve sacrifices in some areas of the squad if they are to address those needs, amid talk of the sale of Ronald Araujo.
