James Ducker Northern Football Correspondent, in New Jersey 20 July 2023 7:46pm BST André Onana has vowed to “create a legacy” at Manchester United after the club formally announced the £44

million signing of the Cameroonian goalkeeper from Inter Milan. Onana has signed a five-year contract to June 2028 with the option of another year. Inter will receive a further €4m in add

ons depending on the goalkeeper’s success at Old Trafford. Onana was United’s first choice to replace David de Gea, who departed as a free agent at the end of last month after 12 years at

the club. Onana, 27, is already on a flight bound for the US to join his new United team-mates on the first leg of their pre-season tour in New Jersey and could make his debut in Saturday’s

is the start of a new journey for me, with new teammates, and new ambitions to fight for.” Manchester United's new goalkeeper André Onana selects No 24 jersey over No 1

------------------------- A HUGE TALENT AND STRONG PERSONALITY – UNITED’S NEW GOALKEEPER Onana has revealed previously that if he had not been a goalkeeper he would probably have become a

policeman. “I like to protect,” he said, although that only points to part of the Cameroonian’s skill set. Onana also likes to play – often with a confidence few modern day goalkeepers can

match – and it is predominantly because of his ability with the ball at his feet that Erik ten Hag has identified his former No 1 at Ajax as the ideal man to replace the departed De Gea at

Manchester United. One of the most glaring aspects of the FA Cup and Champions League finals last month was the difference between the two goalkeepers Manchester City faced. Whereas De Gea’s

limitations were on full display during a lamentable display in United’s 2-1 defeat at Wembley, Inter Milan’s success in disrupting City’s usual rhythm and getting at Pep Guardiola’s side

owed much to Onana’s poise, precision and positioning in possession in Istanbul. In Uefa’s technical report of the final, which City edged 1-0, Roberto Martínez, the former Wigan, Everton

and Belgium international manager now in charge of Portugal, suggested the Inter goalkeeper played less as a sweeper-keeper than a holding midfielder, sentiments echoed by Guardiola himself.

“Onana was playing like a holding midfielder – he was in the positions of a holding midfielder,” the City manager said. “We struggled against it.” Onana often took up advanced positions

ahead of his central defenders, essentially operating as an auxiliary midfielder from which he helped Inter to build the play. The final was one of five matches in Inter’s Champions League

campaign in which he completed 30 or more passes and one in particular, in the 72nd minute, encapsulated his qualities and impact. Driving a bending ball low into Lautaro Martínez in the

opposition half, Onana took out six City players across the first two lines of pressure to set up a 3 vs 3 attack and help create a chance for Romelu Lukaku. It was by no means an isolated

moment. Consider, for example, his eye of the needle pass between Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish into the feet of Marcelo Brozovic late in the first half that completely bypassed City’s

first pressing line and it is easy to understand why Guardiola said it was so hard to form an effective, cohesive high press against a team with a goalkeeper like that. The contrast with De

Gea at Wembley – and in general – could not have been more stark and underlines why Ten Hag felt he could not muddle through another season with the Spaniard in goal. That had originally

been the plan but De Gea’s torrid end to the season, which included howlers in the defeats to Sevilla and West Ham, forced a full reappraisal and led Ten Hag to determine that a new

goalkeeper was as much of a priority as a new centre-forward. De Gea was partly culpable for Ilkay Gundogan’s winning goal but, moreover, the game reinforced just what a hindrance he was to

Ten Hag’s desire to play out from the back. De Gea turned over possession on 20 occasions, finishing the match with a 49 per cent passing accuracy notable for the number of aimless long

kicks he booted up field. Yet, for much of last season, the sight of De Gea invariably rooted to his line, riven with self-doubt with the ball at his feet and creating apprehension in others

was commonplace and not even the Premier League golden glove award for most clean sheets could mask that. The game has moved on and De Gea has been left behind in that regard but if he

represents an analogue age, Onana is at the forefront of the digital movement and a goalkeeper Ten Hag is convinced will play a significant role in the evolution of United’s playing style

under him. Not that Onana’s career has been without its controversies or problems. In February 2021 when still at Ajax under Ten Hag, Onana was banned for a year by Uefa after failing a

drugs test four months earlier. The suspension was later reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who found “no significant fault”. Onana had woken with a headache after

returning home in the early hours following a European match against Atalanta in Italy and took what he thought was a paracetamol from the medicine box in his kitchen. Yet instead of

Litacold, it subsequently transpired that Onana had accidentally taken a Furosemide-based diuretic – a banned substance – prescribed to his wife after giving birth. Onana has expressed deep

frustration about the stigma attached to his doping ban and, in one interview, recalled being stopped by police in Belgium and hearing one of the officers who recognised him say to his

colleague: “This guy takes loads of drugs”. Yet the way he bounced back after such a long time being unable to play spoke volumes for his strength of character. Born in the tiny village of

Nkol Ngok in Cameroon, he was discovered at a competition run by the Samuel Eto’o foundation in Yaoundé and recommended to Barcelona, who signed him at 14. Moving away from home at such a

young age proved a key formative experience and, four years later, he joined Ajax. Even for a club renowned for wanting their players to be brave playing out from the back, there were some

at Ajax unconvinced about Onana, concerned that he was too much of a risk-taker, too eccentric. Yet Edwin van der Sar, the former Ajax goalkeeper, saw something special and pushed hard for

the club to sign him despite the misgivings of some scouts. It would prove a shrewd investment, with Onana playing a crucial role in Ajax’s march to a first Eredivisie title under Ten Hag in

2018-19 and run to the Champions League semi-finals that season, when they were beaten in dramatic circumstances against Spurs. Onana has never forgotten Van der Sar’s support – a man he

refers to as his footballing “godfather” – and was left shocked and saddened by the news this month that the former Ajax chief executive had suffered a bleed on his brain and was being

treated in hospital. Onana’s standing among his fellow goalkeepers was reflected when Manuel Neuer, the Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper, sent him a video lauding his and Ajax’s form in

2019 and described himself as Onana’s “biggest fan”. That reputation has only grown over the past year after an impressive debut season with Inter that convinced Ten Hag Onana was hitting

even greater heights. His former Cameroon team-mate, Gaëtan Bong, believes Onana has the potential to be as good as Alisson and Ederson, the Brazil goalkeepers at Liverpool and Manchester

City respectively, but says United fans may have to take a deep breath at times watching him in action. “Even with me sometimes playing with him, I was a bit scared!” Bong told Sky Sports.

“Fans have to be prepared to have a goalkeeper that can play. If you look at Man City and Liverpool, who have goalkeepers that make mistakes and take risks, the managers stand up for the

goalkeepers because they know the quality, nothing changes and there is no doubt. Andre has the quality and potential and playing for United he might reach the level of Alisson and Ederson.”

United are not only getting a talented goalkeeper but a strong personality who is unafraid to speak his mind. Onana has claimed there is a misconception that black goalkeepers make too many

mistakes and that they need to work harder than their white counterparts to make it at the top of European football as a consequence. In December last year, he announced his retirement from

international football after a fall-out with Cameroon’s head coach Rigobert Song at the World Cup. Song claimed Onana had asked not to play in his country’s second group match against

Serbia. Whether he returns to play for Cameroon in the future remains to be seen but, with Onana in goal, life is unlikely to be dull for United.