Man Utd sign Inter goalkeeper André Onana - is he an upgrade on David de Gea?

Manchester United continue their summer plans to drastically upgrade Erik ten Hag’s Old Trafford squad, by signing Inter Milan goalkeeper André Onana. According to multiple reports, the Cameroonian shot-stopper joins the Premier League giants for an initial €52.5 million, with a further €5m in future considerations. As a result, Onana becomes the fourth most expensive goalkeeper in history and could move into third when his additional fees are met. “Manchester United has a long history of incredible goalkeepers, and I will now give everything to create my own legacy in the coming years," Onana said in a club statement.

Naturally, Onana will make the move to Man Utd as a direct replacement for David de Gea, who departed the club this summer after his contract expired. The Spanish shot-stopper made just under 550 appearances for the Red Devils over the course of 12 years in England, but had struggled for form over the second half of his Old Trafford tenure and was in need of being replaced by Ten Hag. As such, fans of the club will be desperate to see what Onana can do and whether he will be a significant upgrade on De Gea. 

How good is André Onana?

After coming through Barcelona’s youth academy as a talented, young player, Onana then made the move to Ajax in 2015 at the age of 19 where he wasted no time in establishing himself as a first-team regular. Inter then picked up the Cameroon international last summer on a free transfer and while the 27-year-old talent may have started the season on the bench, Onana quickly supplanted club captain Samir Handanovic between the posts. 

Jatin Dietl, Area Manager for Italy at Transfermarkt: 

“He is a goalkeeper that is distinguished by his responsiveness, acceleration and reaction speed, as well as a good ability to play the ball with his feet. This allows him to begin moves from his own box and to serve his teammates with his precise long throws up the pitch. He regularly comes out of his box to help build-up play. In less than a year, he has become a top performer and crowd favourite at Inter. Inter needs the money from the sale to strengthen its attacking line (with Romelu Lukaku and Edin Džeko gone), otherwise they would have certainly preferred to keep him.”

Will André Onana be better than David de Gea?

While goalkeepers are still judged first and foremost by their ability to save shots, there’s little doubt that De Gea’s downfall at Man Utd was largely due to the Spaniard’s lack of technical ability with the ball at his feet. The former Man Utd keeper made a number of high-profile mistakes over the course of his time in England, whether that be getting caught in possession or simply passing the ball directly to opposing players. If Onana’s time in Italy is anything to go by, he should offer a departure from that. 

Market Value

A. Onana Goalkeeper

€35.00m

Indeed, despite spending a large chunk of the first half of the season on the Inter bench, the shot-stopper still came in sixth when it came to most successful open play passes completed and even bagged more key passes (a pass that leads to a shot) than any other keeper in the division. When we couple that with the fact that sixteen Serie A keepers lost possession on more instances than Onana last season, it certainly suggests that the Cameroon star could be a very different prospect than Dea Gea. Whether he proves to be a better all-round goalkeeper remains to be seen.