Unveiling Andre Onana: How Manchester United Plans to Secure Ajax's Goalkeeping Prodigy

Onana exhibited the qualities of a holding midfielder throughout the match, which posed difficulties for us. Man City manager Pep Guardiola was astonished by Inter's Andre Onana's performance in the Champions League final, recognizing his potential as Man Utd's future goalkeeper.

The manager who introduced the concept of the ball-playing goalkeeper, Guardiola, received a significant compliment. His innovative use of Victor Valdes at Barcelona in 2009 was considered groundbreaking at the time. Today, the impact of this approach is evident throughout the Premier League.

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Pep Guardiola consoles Onana after Man City's Champions League final win over Inter

David De Gea, who occasionally struggled last season due to his subpar abilities with his feet, has declared that he will not be making a comeback to Old Trafford after completing a remarkable 12-season tenure. Consequently, a position has opened up for Onana. As a result, Man Utd has successfully negotiated an arrangement with Inter for the services of the goalkeeper, potentially amounting to £47.2m if certain performance-related incentives are met.

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Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag has once again reached out to a previous collaborator, this time in the form of Onana, who had previously played under Ten Hag at Ajax. Together, they achieved remarkable success, securing three league titles and making it to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019. However, what exactly has motivated Ten Hag to be so eager to reunite with his former goalkeeper?

According to Dutch football expert Marcel van der Kraan, he is likely to be the best goalkeeper that Man Utd will acquire in a considerable amount of time. His exceptional skills with the ball are what gained him immense popularity at Ajax. Despite some of his comical actions, his performance was consistently remarkable.

Onana joined Ajax at the age of 18, having departed from Barcelona, which raised some concerns about his playing style. However, renowned Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar recognized the extraordinary potential in this young talent. "In the early stages of his career, he displayed excessive self-assurance," Van der Kraan commented about Onana. "Edwin van der Sar firmly believed in him. Despite reservations from some scouts at Ajax, who viewed his tricks and playful behavior as a liability, Van der Sar saw something special in him."

"But Van der Sar said, 'Look we want to get this boy he is going to be brilliant'. Ever since joining Ajax he was a huge success."

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Edwin van der Sar was a mentor to Onana at Ajax

Onana, who served a nine-month ban from football due to unintentionally ingesting a prohibited substance, has shown continuous improvement since departing the Eredivisie. The Champions League final provided the ideal platform for him to showcase his exceptional skills.

According to Van der Kraan, "There is now a noticeable sense of composure in his game, evident in the way he orchestrates play during the buildup, as witnessed in the Champions League final." While he possesses the ability to excel as a sweeper, full-back, or midfielder, it is best to deploy him as a goalkeeper where his talent truly shines.

Some fans may consider Onana's abilities to be crazy, but there is always a logical explanation. It is exceptionally uncommon to come across a goalkeeper who possesses the same level of confidence as Onana. Should United manage to secure his services, their fans would undoubtedly adore him. Prior to the Champions League final, Guardiola had already expressed caution regarding Onana's strengths and their potential impact on City.

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Onana's exceptional skills have singled him out as one of Inter's formidable assets ahead of the Champions League final. Guardiola acknowledged the challenges of deploying a high press against the goalkeeper, stating, "It is extremely challenging to effectively press Onana. Moreover, Inter showcases remarkable ball retention abilities."

If you watched Man Utd last season, you would have noticed that De Gea lacked press resistance. His lack of confidence with the ball actually encouraged opposition teams to press. For instance, think of the Brentford 4-0 Man Utd match at the Gtech last August.

Ten Hag strongly believes in playing from the back and his first season showed clear signs of improvement, especially with the addition of Lisandro Martinez at centre-back. However, De Gea's weaknesses with the ball hindered the team's progress.

United's defeat to Man City in the FA Cup final in June highlighted their tendency to become predictable under pressure. On that fateful afternoon, De Gea's distribution and shot-stopping raised doubts, while City's substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega displayed the qualities that Ten Hag longed for.

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David De Gea was criticised for his performance in the FA Cup final

"Looking at United, for instance, their style revolves around playing long ball," Guardiola commented before the Istanbul final, drawing a parallel to Inter. "They rely on Marcus Rashford and another forward to make runs and chase after it.

"However, Inter adopts a contrasting approach by maintaining possession. This calls for careful consideration of our strategy. Inter showcases exceptional ball control, which is why they have reached the Champions League final."

At the heart of that is a goalkeeper brimming with confidence.

What do the stats say?

Onana's performance in the Champions League final against City showcased his versatility, with Guardiola noting his resemblance to a holding midfielder. His exceptional ball skills have caught the attention of potential suitors, making it a crucial aspect of his appeal.

The passing networks depicted below illustrate Onana's usual approach of playing out from the back with three central defenders positioned in front of him. He frequently opts to distribute longer passes to the defensive midfielder, particularly when aiming to bypass the opposition's pressing, or alternatively seeks to find either full-back along the flanks.

The graphics provided visualize the results and distances of each goal-kick executed by De Gea and Onana during the previous season in the Premier League and Champions League. These visuals highlight Onana's notable proficiency in delivering accurate passes to the defensive-midfield zone, in addition to his remarkable success rate in distributing long balls towards the forwards.

Indeed, the passing sonars below reveal how Onana is more effective at finding team-mates in almost every direction.

Combining all of the aforementioned aspects, the following table effectively showcases Onana's exceptional passing skills: the Cameroonian standout outperforms the Spanish counterpart in nearly every passing metric - except for the fact that De Gea generally launches goal-kicks much further downfield.

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Shot-stopping

Onana emerged as a prominent figure throughout the previous Champions League tournament, culminating in their loss to Manchester City in the final. Notably, he made a exceptional double save in the 1-0 victory against Porto, where their young goalkeeper Diogo Costa was also displaying remarkable talent.

Furthermore, the Cameroon international played a pivotal role in the 2-0 triumph over their rivals AC Milan in the first leg. This match showcased his skills and put him in direct competition with the highly sought-after French goalkeeper, Mike Maignan.

The scatter plot depicted below illustrates Onana's ranking among the top goalkeepers in terms of keeping clean sheets during Inter's European campaign. Among all goalkeepers who played for at least 360 minutes, Ederson was the only one with a superior save percentage and clean-sheet ratio. Additionally, Onana prevented more goals than any other goalkeeper, as indicated by xG data.

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Top clubs have been monitoring the 27-year-old for a while now, however, his outstanding performances on the illustrious European stage have significantly elevated his reputation. Now the question arises, how does he compare to De Gea, the goalkeeper whose shoes he would potentially step into?

De Gea bid farewell to Old Trafford after 12 years, leaving behind an impressive record of winning the Golden Glove, having kept 17 clean sheets in the previous Premier League season.

In spite of De Gea's impressive performances, Onana conceded fewer goals per 90 minutes and had a higher save percentage in the Serie A when comparing their league stats from last season. However, De Gea was slightly busier, kept more clean sheets, and achieved a better goal-prevention rate according to xG.

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When visualised against all goalkeepers in Europe's top five leagues, both stoppers rank among the absolute best for preventing shots from close range and keeping clean sheets.

However, in contrast to De Gea, Onana additionally places within the top five percent for his impressive rate of accurate passes and ability to prevent costly mistakes - all while exhibiting greater proficiency in saving long-range shots.

The image below displays the position of the goalmouth for each precise shot that De Gea encountered in the previous season of the Premier League. It highlights his overall performance, which unsurprisingly reveals his vulnerability in saving shots aimed low and high in both corners of the goal.

Onana's goalmouth save locations below suggest he is superior at saving attempts low in the corners - but shipped all four shots struck high in the corners.

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