Ten Hag: 'Onana will elevate Man Utd'
On July 20, Man Utd announced the signing of a five-year contract with Onana, with the option of a one-year extension. Negotiations between Man Utd and Inter lasted several weeks, before reaching an agreement on the transfer fee - with $ 62 million, of which 57 million was paid in advance and $ 5 million in surcharges depending on the contribution of the Cameroon goalkeeper.
"The most important thing for a goalkeeper, is to keep a clean sheet, but he doesn't do it on his own," explained Ten Hag about recruiting Onana on Man Utd's homepage. "So you need a well-organized defense, with a goalkeeper capable of keeping a clean sheet. That's the first criterion of a good goalkeeper."
The Dutch coach added that modern football requires goalkeepers to be able to distribute the ball and have qualities off the field, and Onana meets both of these criteria. Ten Hag praised the Cameroon goalkeeper with personality, desire to win, win big titles and will help Man Utd reach a higher level.
Onana played with Lisandro Martinez - the player who joined Man Utd in the summer of 2022 - under Ten Hag at Ajax. Therefore, the 53-year-old coach believes Onana can create a good connection with the central defenders, both in terms of ball development as well as defensive organization, thereby improving Man Utd's playing style.
"Onana had a good relationship with Martinez at Ajax," continued Ten Hag. "For centre-backs, it's very important to communicate, to work together. The goalkeeper and the four defenders as well as the whole team have to be connected. So you need social and communication skills to reach the highest level, in line with the very high demands and standards in the Premier League and especially with Man Utd."
Onana will take the place of David de Gea - the goalkeeper left freely when he was asked to deeply reduce his income, but did not wear the number 1 shirt, but still wore the familiar number 24 shirt like when he wore Inter and Ajax shirts.
The 27-year-old goalkeeper wears this shirt because he was born on April 2. Onana wore the number 1 shirt at Ajax for one season, then switched to his favorite number 24. This shirt number has been vacant at Man Utd since January 2021 and was most recently worn by defender Tim Fosu-Mensah. Before that, the names who have worn the number 24 shirt include Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Wes Brown and Darren Fletcher.
Onana joined Man Utd in the US and practiced for the first time on July 21. This goalkeeper can make his debut in a friendly match against Arsenal at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey on the afternoon of July 22, Washington time.
