Manchester United are believed to be on the verge of announcing the transfer of Andre Onana, according to Fabrizio Romano on Twitter. United fans are excited at the prospect – but will he bring success to the club?
In this piece, we will examine and analyse how effective of a signing Onana could be at Old Trafford – additionally, we will also determine whether he will be an upgrade over the outgoing David De Gea.
Not only is Onana a supremely gifted goalkeeper, he is also the ideal man to have between the sticks in an Erik Ten Hag. While they were both at Ajax, de Godenzonen enjoyed a period of great success – it is no coincidence that the Dutchman is so keen for a reunion.
How will Andre Onana be an improvement over David De Gea?
In many ways, this is difficult to say. De Gea, for all his faults, has left a rich legacy at United – at his best, he was one of the greatest goalkeepers in Premier League history.
However, following the 2018 World Cup, a tournament that saw De Gea commit a slew of high-profile errors, the quality of Spaniard’s performances noticeably declined.
Since then, De Gea has not been the electric shot-stopper we once knew. He has been able to pull off some jaw-dropping saves since then, but his weaknesses have become more and more visible in the last half-decade.
Onana, on the other hand, is a player who seems to improve season upon season. In the previous campaign, he played a major role in Inter Milan’s impressive Champions League run that saw them reach the tournament’s final, only to be defeated by Manchester City.
Not only is Onana much better with the ball at his feet than De Gea is, he also possesses wonderful shot-stopping ability and rules over his area with an iron fist.
Will Onana improve Manchester United’s play?
As Onana is far superior to De Gea from a technical standpoint, he will give the Red Devils a far greater dearth of options when it comes to distribution.
This is something that Ten Hag will relish in. He likes his teams to play out from the back when possible, which Onana is a specialist at.
Not only this, but Onana’s long distribution is also far superior to that of De Gea’s. His kicking is both powerful and accurate, whether it is out of his hands or from a dead ball scenario.