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Andre Onana was subjected to an “are you going to save one?” jibe from a Manchester United youngster during his error-strewn start at Old Trafford.
The Cameroon international goalkeeper found the transition from life at Serie A giants Inter to that under the brightest of Premier League spotlights tough following a £48 million ($62m) transfer in the summer of 2023. Mistakes crept into his game, leading to questions being asked of whether United had made the wrong call in their decision to replace David de Gea.
According to The Athletic, the taunts aimed in Onana’s direction were not restricted to those in the stands and press, with it claimed that one inexperienced first-team squad member bellowed “are you going to save one or what?” at the 27-year-old keeper during a training session in which his standards were not considered to be up to scratch.
Onana has worked his way through those struggles to add greater consistency to his game in 2024, with United’s former goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, saying of that process: “He has followed a similar path to David and even Peter Schmeichel. A difficult first few months, but you have to understand why. Onana came from Italy where the pace and tempo are different. There’s no league in the world where you have the variation in games that you get in the Premier League and it catches new goalkeepers out. You play against a possession team one week — Liverpool, Brighton, Villa or Manchester City — and then you have counter-attacking teams and sides mixing it up far more than you see in Serie A. You’re playing with fans right on top of you in full stadiums that hold 74,000 or 11,000. There are so many variables to get used to and the fans are looking for big saves, which is what you want when you’ve paid so much for a goalkeeper.”
Onana has always put on a positive face in public, with a proven performer sticking by the mantra that form is temporary and class is permanent. He has started to prove as much of late and will be eager to keep making a point to those that were quick to write him off both in and outside of Old Trafford.
