Erik ten Hag ‘met Andre Onana in Amsterdam to convince him to join Man United’, after deciding he could ‘no longer trust David de Gea following his FA Cup final nightmare’

Erik ten Hag arranged a face-to-face meeting with Andre Onana to lure him to Manchester United after losing faith in David de Gea at the end of last season, according to reports.

Onana completed his £47m move to Old Trafford from Inter Milan last week, but Ten Hag got the ball rolling on the deal several weeks earlier.

His decision to pursue Onana came after De Gea’s disastrous end to the season that culminated in him failing to keep out two long-range Ilkay Gundogan volleys in the FA Cup final as United were beaten 2-1 by bitter rivals Manchester City, as reported by The Athletic.

Ten Hag had shown interest in Onana earlier in the season, having previously worked with him at Ajax between 2017 and 2022. 

However, Onana was initially under the impression that a switch to United would see him compete for a place with De Gea rather than replace him.

He has replaced goalkeeper David de Gea, who left United United earlier this month 

Erik ten Hag lost trust in De Gea at the end of last season and decided to move for Onana

That all changed in the final weeks of last season, though, as De Gea made two costly errors in United’s 3-0 defeat against Sevilla that saw them knocked out of the Europa League, and then conceded a soft goal in a 1-0 loss at West Ham just two weeks later.

Doubts started creeping into Ten Hag’s mind with each mistake, and De Gea’s performance in the cup final at Wembley was the final straw.

The Dutchman had continuously defended De Gea throughout the campaign, and had seen improvements in his ability to play out from the back, despite repeated criticism from fans and pundits.

De Gea had suggested a new deal was a formality, but United are adamant a formal proposal wasn’t made and nothing was signed.

After the FA Cup final, with Ten Hag’s blessing, United offered De Gea a new outline proposal with less money and a shorter contract on the table, making it clear he could stay as a No 2 or move on.

De Gea announced his exit from the club shortly afterwards, bringing to an end his 12-year stay in Manchester. 

United wasted little time in finding his replacement, and had already started lining up Onana weeks before De Gea’s departure was confirmed. 

Ten Hag was originally in contact with a senior agent at Wasserman Media Group, Yalcin Sarina, about a potential move for his client Denzel Dumfries. Sarina then brought up the availability of Dumfries’ Inter team-mate Onana, and Ten Hag was immediately interested.

United registered their interest in Onana prior to the Champions League final, where he impressed as Inter suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of City, with his passing out from the back coming to the fore.

They were not the only club monitoring Onana, though, with Chelsea also keen on the shot-stopper.

But United were desperate to get their man, and their head of recruitment, Steve Brown, held a meeting with Albert Botines, the agent who finalised Onana’s free transfer from Ajax to Inter last summer.

Onana impressed in the Champions League final last month, and will now get the chance to further enhance his reputation in the Premier League at United

Ten Hag then took matters into his own hands, travelling to Amsterdam to speak to Onana in person alongside Sarina at Wasserman’s offices.

The talks went well, convincing Onana that United was the right club for him, and the deal finally went through last Thursday.

The 27-year-old has joined up with his team-mates on their US tour and watched on from the sidelines as they beat Arsenal 2-0 on Saturday night.

He could make his United debut on Tuesday night when the team face Hollywood-owned Wrexham in California.