Man Utd’s Onana: It Took Six Months to Settle at Old Trafford
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana admits it took him half a year “to feel good” at Old Trafford.
United made a significant investment of £47.2m to acquire Onana from Inter Milan in July, as a replacement for four-time club player of the year David de Gea.
However, despite high expectations upon his arrival, the Cameroon international faced a challenging start. He was chipped from 50 yards on his Old Trafford debut against Lens and subsequently made several errors contributing to the club’s struggles in the Premier League and their early exit from the Champions League group stage.
Onana’s performances didn’t noticeably improve until after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations in February. While he still made occasional mistakes, he is now considered one of the more dependable members of manager Erik ten Hag’s squad, as they prepare for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.
“I arrived as the best goalkeeper in the world and ‘boom’ it went down. It was like ‘what happened?’,” said the 28-year-old.
“But that is how difficult football is sometimes. It depends if you want to stay down there or stand up and fight. I know what I did to arrive here. I know who I am. I decided to stand up and fight.”
Onana isn’t overly concerned about City’s overwhelming odds to repeat their triumph of the previous year. He recalls his experience with Inter Milan, where they troubled City in the Champions League final before eventually losing.
Saturday’s match holds significant importance for manager Ten Hag, whose future at United remains uncertain.
“I’m not here to back him because he’s big enough to back himself,” said Onana. “But he’s a really good guy, a positive coach and tactically he is good.
“If he had all his squad together, it would probably be different for him, for us, the club and the fans.
“We know how good City are. They are the best team at the moment and we lost twice to them already.
“But we are motivated. Beating them wouldn’t make it a successful season. Playing for this club, I don’t think winning the FA Cup is enough.
“But it would make things look better. We go there to win.”
