BINH DUONG
“Andre Onana plays like an anchor midfielder. When he's in this position, we're in trouble," Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said of his surprise at the Inter Milan goalkeeper's performance in the Champions League final in June. Man United's next number one goalkeeper after the team parted ways with David De Gea.
The Daily Mail, citing sources familiar with the matter, confirmed that Man United and Inter Milan had reached a preliminary agreement on the Cameroon goalkeeper. The Italian team accepted an offer of $ 55 million from the "Red Devils". Thus, once again coach Erik ten Hag wants to cooperate with a player he used to work with. Onana had time to catch the ball for Ajax Amsterdam under Ten Hag, together they won the Dutch domestic championship title three times and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 3. But why is Coach Ten Hag eager to reunite? old game?
Man United's first season under Ten Hag often deployed the ball from the home area and there were clear signs of improvement, thanks to the arrival of rookie centre-back Lisandro Martinez. However, the inherent mistake plus the lack of confidence in the handling of the ball with the feet of goalkeeper De Gea has made the "Red Devils" pay the price many times.
On the contrary, Onana shows the ability to deploy the ball from the home field very well. Compared to De Gea, Onana last season often launched long balls into the opponent's defensive midfield area and passed long balls to strikers also had a higher success rate. Overall, Onana surpassed De Gea in almost every passing parameter. “The ability to play with the foot is the factor that made Onana famous at Ajax. Sometimes he's funny, but usually he's brilliant," said Dutch football expert Marcel van der Kraan.
Onana joined Ajax at the age of 18 after leaving Barcelona. Despite some concerns about Onana's overconfidence early in his career, legendary former Man United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar still discovered the special talent of this "keeper". Van der Sar served as the CEO of Ajax from 2016 to May 5.
In terms of goal protection, Onana was one of the brightest stars of the Champions League last season, with many unbelievable saves in victories over Porto and AC Milan. Of the goalkeepers who have played at least 360 minutes in the Champions League, only Ederson of the Manchester City champions is ahead of Onana in terms of saves and clean sheets.
Onana has gradually become more successful since leaving the Netherlands last summer. The 2023 Champions League final was the perfect stage to remind the world of the 27-year-old goalkeeper's talent. Onana has a calm demeanor and this was evident in the final. Onana can play as a sweeper, full-back or midfielder but let him guard the goal because that's where he plays best.
