Andre Onana has the potential to be a transformative signing for Manchester United.

That isn’t something said too often about a goalkeeper but the Cameroonian, who United hope to sign from Inter Milan for around £43million, could take Erik ten Hag‘s team to the next level.

Onana, 27, is very well known to United’s manager given they spent four-and-a-half years working together at Ajax, but it’s fair to say it wasn’t always straightforward between them.

Nonetheless, it’s clear Ten Hag wants Onana to succeed David de Gea as United’s No 1 and this offers us plenty of clues about how the Dutchman wants his team to play going forward.

In many ways, Onana has a totally contrasting style to De Gea.

Manchester United are hopeful they can conclude a deal to sign Inter Milan keeper Onana

United manager Erik ten Hag worked together with Onana for four-and-a-half years at Ajax

Onana, seen dribbling past Manchester City’s Erling Haaland in the Champions League final, has the potential to transform the way United play

Whereas the Spaniard is an outstanding shot-stopper capable of spectacular saves that rescued United so many times during his 12 years there, he isn’t the most comfortable with the ball at his feet.

That became more and more apparent last season, with mistakes also creeping into his game.

Onana would replace long-standing United No 1 David de Gea following his departure

De Gea made high-profile errors against Brentford, West Ham and Sevilla, before being held responsible for Ilkay Gundogan’s winning goal for Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

He often looked skittish when in possession of the ball and lacked the distribution s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s beyond the simplest of short passes, usually to Lisandro Martinez when the Argentine was playing.

But, as he showed to a huge audience in Inter’s Champions League final defeat to City last month, Onana is entirely comfortable with the ball at his feet and has a mixed range of passing any outfield player would be proud of.

Regular watchers of Serie A already knew this. In league matches last season, Onana completed all 224 short passes he attempted and 98 per cent of medium-range passes, according to FBref.

When it came to pinged long balls forward to Inter’s forwards, 54.7 per cent found their target. In total, Onana completed 81.3 per cent of his 1030 attempted passes.

It was this that saw him usurp Samir Handanovic as Inter’s first-choice last season, playing every single minute of their Champions League run.

De Gea’s pass completion in his 38 Premier League games last season was 71.1 per cent and 43.6 per cent when it came to attempted long balls. So Onana has a clear edge when it comes to distribution.

Onana’s top class distribution would allow United to play in a very different manner

The former Cameroon international isn’t afraid to dribble the ball out beyond his defenders

Ten Hag is big on control in games and control comes through possession of the ball. United didn’t achieve the desired control anywhere near often enough last season, especially in games against tougher opposition away from home.

But his United side remains a work in progress and Onana will take them forward. Quite literally, in fact, because he regularly likes to start moves from a more advanced position than the two centre-halves.

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 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 whatever striker they deign to sign to get United attacking even quicker.

Inter’s forwards – Romelu Lukaku, Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez – are all adept at holding the ball up so Onana’s passes directly to them became a useful weapon.

City manager Pep Guardiola praised Onana’s ability to bypass a press before the final

The keeper has a good command of his penalty area, too, which will also appeal to United

As Pep Guardiola pointed out ahead of the Champions League final, this allows Inter to bypass any kind of high press and can drag opponents out of position.

United don’t like being pressed and haven’t been s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed at playing their way out from the back, so this can only help.

Onana is also a pretty good shot stopper, even if perhaps not at De Gea’s level

In 2022-23, Onana played just 24 league games for Inter but recorded eight shot-creating actions, which are the two actions prior to a shot being fired off. De Gea, in 38 matches, managed only five.

So Onana’s comfort on the ball, lack of panic in sticky situations and range of distribution are all positives and represent an upgrade on De Gea.

It should lift United closer to the standards of City, Arsenal and Liverpool, teams who in recent seasons have been able to play themselves effortlessly out of danger.

But Onana is undoubtedly a more colourful character and given United screen their players more carefully these days given chief executive Richard Arnold’s ‘no d***heads’ policy, some red flags may have been raised.

During last year’s World Cup, Onana’s commitment to taking risks with the ball at his feet led to a blazing row with Cameroon boss Rigobert Song and the keeper being sent home.

‘Onana puts on a show in training but takes too many risks during games. I told him repeatedly,’ You should take no risks. Pass the ball wide, not in the middle,’ Song said at the time.

Onana was dropped after Cameroon’s opening World Cup match against Switzerland and duly retired from international football the following month after making 34 appearances.

Onana played for Cameroon against Switzerland in their opening group game in Qatar

But a blazing row with coach Rigobert Song (right) led to Onana being sent back home

It’s why United legend Rio Ferdinand was warning fans ‘there will be mistakes’ if Onana comes to Old Trafford as he acclimatises to the Premier League.

But Ferdinand also praised him, adding: ‘I think he’s a fantastic signing… you see teams pressing him and he does not even panic.’

Ten Hag recognises this already. He was Ajax’s No 1 when he became their manager in December 2017 and remained first choice until February 2021 when he was banned under doping laws.

Onana, then 24, tested positive for the banner substance Furosemide, a diuretic, after accidentally taking some of his wife’s medication when searching for an aspirin.

Banned initially for 12 months by UEFA, this was reduced to nine months for the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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.

Onana was Ajax’s goalkeeper when they agonisingly lost to Tottenham in the Champions League semi-finals under Ten Hag in 2019

Onana was no longer guaranteed to be Ajax’s No 1, mistakes crept into his game and Ten Hag wasn’t happy about his fitness levels.

The keeper didn’t help himself by biting back at supporters who booed him off the field following an error, saying he ‘didn’t give a s***’.

By this time, his desire to leave Ajax for Inter was apparent and Ten Hag dropped Onana for the Dutch Cup final against PSV Eindhoven. He didn’t play for them again after that.

But all that is clearly water under the bridge. Ten Hag was reportedly behind United’s decision to renege on a new contract for De Gea and there is confidence a deal for Onana can be done.

If it is, Ten Hag’s United should make more forward strides next season.

Source: dailymail