Man Utd Sign The Audacious Andre Onana

Published by CM22ENT on 20 July 202320 July 2023

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Andre Onana from Inter Milan with a fee of £43.7m +£3.4m in add ons. The Cameroonian reunites with former Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag who can finally breathe a sigh of relief after sorting out next seasons goalkeeping issues with David De Gea departing from the club at the start of this month.

In an interview with Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, Onana revealed that “Playing in the Premier League for a club like United is irresistible.”

Onana’s impact

In Andre Onana, Manchester United will have a goalkeeper who statistically performs much better with his feet in comparison to De Gea who has garnered some negative attention in that department. Onana stands in the 75th percentile (41%) for passes longer than 40 yards completed in Europe’s top 5 leagues which will enhance the speed at which United can begin attacks. His overall confidence in playing out of the back will unlock so many options to break opposition presses.

An area where Onana may be tested slightly on could be defending crosses into the area where he faced almost 13 per 90 minutes and stopped 0.78. Still a lot stronger than De Gea’s 0.40 per 90, but definitely something to look at. As football has progressed, there is less of an emphasis on crossing, but players like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Kevin De Bruyne just to name a few will utilise different types of crosses to catch out opposition defences on a weekly basis, and it will be interesting to see how Manchester United’s new #24 will take control of those situations.

Manchester United’s football director John Murtough said:

“Andre was our top choice to become the new goalkeeper for Manchester United, with exactly the right profile of technical attributes and personality. Having achieved success throughout his career, we know that Andre will further add to the winning mentality we are building within our squad.

“He is already one of the world’s best goalkeepers and at the age of 27 we firmly believe that he can develop even further over the coming years.”

New kid on the block?

Japanese 20 year old Zion Suzuki has also been linked as a secondary goalkeeping option for Erik Ten Hag’s squad going into the 23/24 campaign. He hasn’t had a lot of first team experience thus far in the J1 League as the Urawa Red Diamonds have opted to use Shusaku Nishikawa (37). Since his promotion to the first team, 21 of his 29 appearances have come in various cup competitions.

Manchester United have clearly scouted and appreciated the talent of Suzuki which for all the research I and others have conducted indicates a translation to what Ten Hag demands from his goalkeepers. An ability to play from the back, aggression in defending crosses, & finally his shot stopping ability completes those standout traits of a modern keeper in todays iteration of football. Although far from the finished article, it will be exciting to find out more and witness his progression as a possible understudy.

Could Kovar Cut It?

It would be unfair of me to not mention the 23 year old Matej Kovar who spent last season out on loan with Fortuna Liga (Czech First League) champions Sparta Prague. An impressive spell that saw him record 11 clean sheets in 32 outings on top of receiving praise for his ball playing abilities and overall footwork. In United’s first two pre season games, Manchester United fans have got to see that first hand with his long range passes standing out to me!

At the moment however, it does sound like the Czech will be heading out on a loan move we are yet to be informed about.

Man United’s transfer window has seemingly kickstarted, and due to changes at the beginning, we are seeing the goalkeeper position now being focussed on as an integral area for change.

What is your reaction to that and who do you believe should become the clubs deputy in-between the sticks? Let me know in the comments. Take care!