Sky Sports FootballThe view from the Netherlands on Andre Onana & Jurrien Timber

Right, Manchester United are still pushing to sign Andre Onana from Inter Milan to replace departed keeper David de Gea. Onana was part of Eric Ten Haag's successful Ajax team and with current Ajax defender Julian Timber close to joining Arsenal. Let's get the view now from the Netherlands with the journalist Marcel van der Kraan. Good afternoon to you Marcel, hope you're well. Look, how close is this deal to happening then? How much do United want Onana and how much does Onana want United? Well I think it could be the start of a big love affair and it's probably the most sensational goalkeeper Manchester United will get for a long time because in many ways Onana is sensational, he has been sensational for Eric Ten Haag when he played for him before at Ajax and in my opinion he's an absolute world-class goalkeeper and he's very keen to join. I think the clubs are getting very close, he's agreed on the terms which Manchester United have laid out for him, his personal terms and I think he's just waiting for the clubs to agree a fee and what I understand from his agent and from the clubs is that it is very close. Look, you say he's sensational, UEFA report on the Champions League say that he's as good on the ball as he is as a holding midfielder, is that what you think attracts him to United? Well that's exactly what made him so popular here in the Netherlands at Ajax, I mean some of his antics were almost hilarious at times but always brilliant and in the beginning of his career I think he was a bit overconfident, he arrived at Ajax from Barcelona as an 18 year old where he joined and he was very young, very ambitious and he didn't cost the club anything but they were so convinced and who was convinced? That was Edwin van der Sar, I think some of the scouts of Ajax dare not really touch him, they thought he was a liability with all his tricks and antics but van der Sar who was himself of course a brilliant goalkeeper at Manchester United for the Netherlands and Ajax said look we want to get this boy, he's going to be brilliant, I want him to come to us and he joined Ajax and ever since he was a huge success and I think now there is a bit more calm in his game and we could see in the Champions League final when we were in Istanbul it was just amazing that some of the build-up he does and the way he plays, indeed he can be a sweeper, he can be a full-back, he can be a midfielder but let's keep him in goal because that's where he's best. And what about this relationship then with Eric ten Haar because of course he made his first team debut under him didn't he? How big a factor does their relationship play in all this do you feel? It's an interesting one Vicky because there was a tense time of course when he had the doping scandal we all know what happened there, well the way he put it he said he took a little vitamin or an aspirin from the wrong pot and it was his wife's slimming pills, well in the doping world people know that slimming pills could also mask something else, he was banned by UEFA for 12 months that was later brought back to nine months but ten Haar was really disappointed, so were Ajax and especially the fans but the respect between the two of them Eric ten Haar and Onan has always been there, there was a mutual huge respect and why I think when two people are top quality ten Haar was a good coach for him, he was a good goalkeeper for ten Haar and his side and I think that's always remained and I think they're both very keen to rekindle that relationship again. Marcel in your vast knowledge of European football I mean is there any other keeper in past or present who has a similar style or do you feel he's a bit of a one-off? I think in a way Van der Sar himself was a bit like that because he could really distribute the ball like him but Onan is, some fans call it crazy, he could be crazy on the pitch but there is always logic behind it because he thinks he's so confident of the way he distributes the ball and it's rare to find another goalkeeper like him because nobody has the confidence Onan has and if United succeed this week in bringing him in I think that the fans will love him. Okay let's move to another current Ajax player, Durian Timber, what sort of defender are Arsenal going to get if and when that deal goes through? Well that's an interesting one because really if you see what they're bringing in with Onan and if you see the sort of defender he is that's another boy who's really comfortable on the ball, he's not like the usual kind of defender, he's not a Harry Maguire who wins all the battles in the air or he's the one who wants the ball at his feet, can build it up, he can play right back and play central defence and he's always been a very comfortable player in the style of Ajax, he's learned his trade, he's learned to play football like Johan Cruyff always wanted his players to play, be confident on the ball and in that way Arsenal are fitting him in in a team which wants to play football in a very attacking way and I think that's where he will be very comfortable. It sounds like he's a really versatile player then? He's incredibly versatile, it's interesting, he's one of twins and his brother is playing for Feyenoord Rotterdam, they won the league, the championship and they did really well in Europe and his brother is the more aggressive one and when they were young I've seen him play since they were well probably from the age of 12, it was always interesting that his brother was a fighter and everybody thought his brother would get really far but during Timber the one who's going to Arsenal now was always the brainy one, the clever one, the one with all the really good passes to the forwards, he would really make the difference in a team and I think in that way there's been some really good scouting from Arsenal because he's not had the best of season last year because Ajax had a bad season as a team but before that he was a real gem and this is why Eric Tanakh wanted to bring him to Manchester United last year and he didn't succeed because the player said I'm not ready yet, I want to stay one more year at Ajax which we don't always see so much these days anymore, most players jump at the first chance to you know pocket million pound salaries and he said no, no, no, I want to build it up and I'm ready now, this year, this summer I'm ready for Arsenal which I think is a really good thing from him. A real gem you call him, I'm talking of real gems, we heard this awful scary medical news about someone you mentioned earlier Edwin van der Saar, can you tell us anything you know about it and what's going on there? Well Friday afternoon I was at the desk here at the Telegraph in Amsterdam and I got the first tip from Croatia from somebody who said look I've just seen Edwin van der Saar be deported in an helicopter on a stretcher and that was so shocking, he wasn't well and we couldn't believe it first, we knew he was on holiday and then very soon after that we got the confirmation that indeed he had gone to a hospital with a bleeding of the brain which is something different from a stroke, he had a bleeding from the brain and well it's incredibly sad because we all know that 14 years ago when he was in goal at Manchester United playing on Sir Alex, his wife Anne-Marie also had a bleeding of the brain or a severe stroke and to happen twice in one family is really really rare and Edwin's in intensive care in a hospital in Croatia still, I spoke to Miel Brinkhuis who is the head of communications at Ajax and who's also a very close friend of the family van der Saar and he said there is very very little at this moment we can reveal about the medical state of Edwin, he's asleep most of the day, he will be for the next few days as well and later in the week doctors in Croatia will most probably do a big CT scan to see what kind of damage there is, in what sort of state he is in, he will be when he really comes around fully and we're all praying and hoping here that he is making a full recovery but it is a at this moment a worrisome situation. Marcel, thank you so much for bringing us up to date with that as you called it a very worrisome situation indeed and we do wish him well. Thank you so much, good to talk to you again. Yes.