Inter made £42m profit in man utd transfer and £5m upgrade is on brink of glory

It is almost two years since Manchester United paid £47.2million to prise Andre Onana away from Inter Milan. The Cameroon international had been part of an Inter side who reached the 2022/23

Champions League final and were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in Istanbul. Having joined from Ajax on a free transfer one year earlier, Inter had made a pure profit on their investment.

United didn't have the foresight to move for their man at that time and paid the price. Since his arrival at Old Trafford, Onana's performances have ranged from the sublime to the

ridiculous. In the second half of last season, and the beginning of this term, it looked like the 29-year-old had grown into the goalkeeper Erik ten Hag had coveted. Good with his feet, and

an excellent shotstopper, Onana was even nominated for our Manchester United player of the Year in 2024. Unfortunately, that good spell has been bookended by a disastrous start to his United

career and an error-strewn 2025. After two seasons keeping goal for United, many are still unconvinced he is the man the club need between the posts. By contrast, Inter have not only

recovered from losing their number one goalkeeper but have actually improved with a shrewd £5million upgrade. The Nerazzurri opted for experience when replacing Onana and saw a bargain

opportunity and took it. Swiss international goalkeeper Yann Sommer had spent eight-and-a-half years at German side Borussia Monchengladbach, quietly going about his business as one of the

best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga. He had patiently waited for his big move and when Manuel Neuer was ruled out for the rest of the season in the 2022/23 campaign, Bayern Munich turned to

Sommer and signed him on a two-and-a-half year contract. Sommer helped Bayern win the Bundesliga and impressed in Bavaria. The problem was that once Neuer was back fit in the summer, Sommer

was not prepared to play second fiddle having had a taste of the big time. Inter saw an opportunity and agreed a cut-price fee with Bayern for the then 34-year-old and the rest is history.

In his first season in Milan, he won Serie A and the Supercoppa Italiana and was named in the Serie A Team of the Season. This term, his performances have helped Inter reach a second

Champions League final in three years, with his display in the semi-finals particularly catching the eye. Sommer made a number of superb saves to keep Barcelona and their young superstar

Lamine Yamal at bay and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, working on Amazon Prime's coverage that night, could not fail to be impressed. “His performance was top class and he fully

deserves the man-of-the-match award,” Rooney said. “That’s what you need when you’re trying to win trophies and get to finals, you need your goalkeeper to come up with big moments and big

saves and that’s what he’s done. “Some will say that’s his job and he’s there to save the ball, but it’s the amount of saves across the two legs.” Rooney would have probably been stood there

wondering how United paid £42million more to sign the goalkeeper Sommer replaced at the San Siro. It is a transfer that has been hailed in Milan as one of their very best and it is another

bruising reminder of how poor United's recruitment has been over the last few years. Ironically, Sommer will return to Munich this evening when Inter take on PSG in the Champions League

final. United's transfer failure will only be heightened if Sommer gets his hand on club football's biggest prize.