Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar Talks Andre Onana Future Amid Barcelona Rumours

Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar has said the Dutch club are eager to keep goalkeeper Andre Onana "as long as possible" after rumours emerged that Barcelona might be interested in him. 

The 22-year-old joined Ajax in 2015 after spending five years in the Barca academy, and Van der Sar is clearly not keen to send him back to the Camp Nou any time soon, per Goal's Sandile Ndumo:

"I think Andre is fantastic. He came to Ajax aged 18 or 19 and the way he developed and the natural attributes that he already had, his speed, his reaction and I think he set himself as a great goalkeeper.

"He was in a rush to play first-team football quickly, but I think the level that he composed himself and that first year, playing straight away the UEFA Europa League final was a great start. Last year was a difficult season but this year again he has proven to be extremely valuable for the team and, besides that, he is a great guy.

"I think there are always a lot of rumours about players from Ajax. We develop great players, not only in Amsterdam but hopefully also in Cape Town and there is interest in a lot of our players, but we like to keep them for as long as possible."

Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the current No. 1 at Barca and No. 2 Jasper Cillessen, a former Ajax stopper, has found minutes hard to come by, starting just two La Liga games since joining the club in 2016.

As a result, the Dutchman has been linked with a move away from the Camp Nou and Onana has been touted as his potential replacement.

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The Cameroonian has denied any contact from Barca but did recently say it "would be a dream" to return to the club, per Marca.

He added, though, currently his "head is 100 percent here [at Ajax]."

Onana's comments would likely have concerned and comforted Van der Sar in equal measure.

He clearly has a desire to return to Barca, but there is no way he would get the kind of game time at the Camp Nou he currently does with Ajax.

The Cameroon international has been their No. 1 goalkeeper since the 2017-18 season and already has 70 Eredivisie appearances.

He has continued to impress this season as Ajax have looked to keep touch with PSV Eindhoven in the title race:

A move to Barcelona would almost certainly stunt Onana's progress as he would struggle to unseat Ter Stegen, and a lack of game time could have an adverse effect on such a young goalkeeper.

However, if Cillessen does depart the Blaugrana and they target Onana to be their new back-up, he may not be able to resist the pull of the Catalan giants.