Man Utd on right path after Onana transfer, says Ten Hag

Manchester United announced on Thursday the signing of Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana on a five-year deal from Inter Milan. The 27-year-old arrived to replace David De Gea, who departed this summer after failing to negotiate a contract extension with his club.

United manager, Erik ten Hag, had pushed hard to sign Onana, as the two had worked together at Ajax, winning three league titles, and the Dutch coach felt that he ticked all the boxes: clean sheets, confidence playing out from the back and ambition, which he highlighted in an interview with the club's media.

"Most important, always for a keeper, is clean sheets and he's not doing that on his own," began Ten Hag. "Therefore, you need a very good defensive organisation, [it's] quite clear. But also the capabilities of a keeper is [about] keeping the goal clean. So this is the first criterion of a good goalkeeper".

One of the main criticisms of De Gea was his reluctance to play with the ball at his feet, something that Onana has shown himself to be comfortable doing: "Nowadays, football also demands good playing from the back, out-playing qualities, and that is a quality Andre has. You need both and you need to cover both areas. So yeah, we're happy, of course", declared the manager.

"I think with his physical presence and also with his personality, he is so keen on winning. He's so, so eager to win trophies and he will help the team and he will help the squad to get to higher levels", he continued.

Ten Hag won't be the only familiar face at Old Trafford, as Onana will also be reuniting with centre-back, Lisandro Martinez, another Ajax player, and his manager believes this will add another level to the strength at the back.

"Did he have a good relationship with Martinez at Ajax? Yeah, of course. With the centre-half, it’s very important, that communication. That is always very important. It's about the co-operation, the team. The keeper with his back four, the keeper with his whole team. It has to be connected", he said.

"So you need the social and communication skills to get that on the highest level, on the level with the demand and the standards are very high in the Premier League and especially with Manchester United."

 

July 21, 2023