Manchester United appear to have found the goalkeeper that Erik ten Hag has been longing for in Andre Onana.
The 27-year-old is closing in on a £43m move to Old Trafford from Inter Milan, having previously worked with Ten Hag at Ajax.
It comes following David de Gea’s brutal end to his 12-year stint as Manchester United’s No 1 – which came crashing to an end when the Dutchman made a U-turn on whether to offer a new contract for the Spaniard.
Unlike De Gea, Onana possesses the attributes that Ten Hag desires in a keeper for his preferred style of play.
Now the Man United boss will be hoping that he has someone between the sticks that can have a transformative impact on his side’s fortunes – much like Ederson at Man City, and Alisson at Liverpool.
Andre Onana is set to reunite with Erik ten Hag as he closes in on a move to Man United
The Cameroonian is a ball-playing keeper that suits Ten Hag’s style of play at Old Trafford
He replaces David de Gea who lacked the attributes that Ten Hag seeks in his keeper
De Gea was never known for his ball-playing abilities, but it was his shot-stopping prowess that played a huge part in United’s decision to stick with him for more than a decade.
However, last season there was a number of high-profile errors against Brentford, West Ham and Sevilla, before he was held responsible for Ilkay Gundogan’s winning goal for Man City in the FA Cup final – the final straw.
While De Gea often looked skittish with the ball at his feet, Onana is confident outside of his area and is calm on the ball.
He’s a risk taker with a positive mentality – something which is the embodiment of a modern keeper.
Rio Ferdinand warned United fans that they can expect ‘mistakes’ from Onana due to his risky style of play. The former England international could very well be correct but the benefits of the Cameroonian’s style of play appear to outweigh the potential consequences.
His stats in possession, as per fbref.com, are particularly impressive, most notably having a 100 per cent success rate with ‘short passes’ in Serie A last season – defined as a ball between five and 15 yards. This is slightly ahead of Ederson and Alisson at 99.4 and 99.2 per cent respectively.
He completed an average of 34.9 overall passes per 90 minutes with an accuracy of 81.3 per cent – this is slightly lower on the two Brazilians with Ederson at 85.8 and Alisson 85.4 per cent. Though this is much higher than De Gea who had a passing accuracy of 71.1%.
Per 90 minutes, he also has the most successful progressive passes compared to his two upcoming rivals in their respective domestic leagues. In Serie A, he averages a tally of 567.1 yards per game, while Alisson is at 503.1 and Ederson is on 493.6.
Onana is not afraid to take risks and is more comfortable in possession compared to De Gea
Onana had a higher percentage for progressive passes than Ederson or Alisson last season
De Gea, again is considerably down on Onana, averaging just 424.6 yards per game.
His ambitious play could be seen at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where Onana broke the record for the most touches (26 out of his 46) outside the box by a keeper in a single game at the World Cup.
This did however lead to Onana being involved in a blazing row with Cameroon boss Rigobert Song – with the keeper sent home from their World Cup camp.
The coach was unhappy with his No 1 for taking too many risks with his feet during games.
His risky play was more appreciated by Pep Guardiola, after Man City were made to work hard in their 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final – securing an historic Treble.
‘Onana was playing like a holding midfielder. He was in the positions of a holding midfielder. We struggled,’ he admitted after the game.
It was a big compliment from a manager that helped pioneer the ball-playing keeper with his use of Victor Valdes at Barcelona and now Ederson at Man City.
There had been concerns over his style earlier in his career, but Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar saw something special in Onana and became a mentor figure for him.
Ten Hag (right) together with Edwin van der Sar played a key role in Onana’s time at Ajax
Together with Ten Hag at Ajax, he was pivotal in calming down the erratic keeper and making more of a polished player to cut out the mistakes.
While De Gea was wedded to his goalline, Onana will take more risks as a sweeper-keeper and advance United’s default position 10-20 yards further forward.
We may become used to seeing the keeper dribble the ball out beyond Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane to the edge of midfield before playing a diagonal pass out wide to Luke Shaw or Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who’ll be urged to push forward.
If they are being marked, Onana may well attempt an even longer pass to Marcus Rashford, Antony, Jadon Sancho or any striker United decide to sign.
Ten Hag is keen to reunite with Onana despite their relationship souring towards the end of their final season together in 2021-22 at Ajax.
Onana tested positive for the banned substance Furosemide, a diuretic, after accidentally taking some of his wife’s medication when searching for an aspirin.
Rio Ferdinand warned United fans that they can expect mistakes from Onana thanks to his risky style of play
City boss Pep Guardiola claimed Onana’s performance in the Champions League final made things hard for his side
Ten Hag stood by Onana, whom he described as a ‘masterful keeper’ when at Ajax, publicly but their relationship soured when the keeper was eligible for selection again towards the end of 2021-22 – when the Dutchman was concerned over his fitness and the Cameroonian was no longer the guaranteed No 1.
But time can heal most wounds, and after a year at Old Trafford for Ten Hag, and the same period for Onana at Inter Milan, the Dutchman is looking to bring him to Old Trafford as De Gea’s replacement.
United showed they have taken big strides in their change of style under the Dutchman last year, with the addition of Lisandro Martinez allowing them to be more capable of playing out from the back, than they did under the previous centre back partnership of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.
De Gea’s shortcomings arguably held the team back, but Onana could prove to be the vital piece in the jigsaw that Ten Hag needs to get his team back into title contention.
