Gary Neville brands the Manchester United goalkeeper position as the toughest role in world football.
David de Gea has been a noble servant of 12 years but it looks as though he will be passing the responsibility on this summer. The Spaniard is out of contract at the end of the month with no renewal signed.
Erik ten Hag is now searching for a potential replacement, in addition to his hunt for a striker and midfielder. United are tracking 20-year-old Anderlecht shot-stopper Bart Verbruggen, MEN Sport understands.
A number of other names have been linked with United amid Ten Hag’s preference for a goalkeeper who is competent with his feet. Diogo Costa has indicated he will stay at Porto next season despite initial rumours linking him with Old Trafford.
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A number of circling reports suggest the Reds are considering Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana. The 27-year-old previously worked under Ten Hag at Ajax prior to his switch to Italy last summer, and the Dutchman was clearly a huge fan of the Cameroon international.
He has shown his capabilities with the ball at his feet, completing all 224 of his short passes under 15 yards in Serie A this season. He has completed 98 per cent of passes up to 30 yards too.
Over greater distances, he ranks highly. A long-ball success rate of 54.7 per cent would have put him as the fourth most accurate goalkeeper in the Premier League, for those who have played more than three games.
He would have finished third among ‘keepers who played more than 15 matches. It’s a quality De Gea struggled to show and one Ten Hag will be eager to utilise.
Conceding an FA Cup final goal after a record 12 seconds would have been enough to irk Ten Hag but perhaps this went to a greater height knowing it had come from a long ball from the Manchester City goalkeeper.
Ederson - who had the Premier League’s best long-range accuracy for a goalkeeper at 62.9 per cent - lofted a ball up to Erling Haaland, who won the header which eventually led to Ilkay Gundogan’s goal.
There was nothing De Gea could do about the finish but his flappy hand for the winner underlined again why United need a change of the guard in goal.
De Gea may have won the Premier League Golden Glove award but Onana had a better ratio of clean sheets, keeping 19 in 41 outings (46 per cent), compared to De Gea’s 25 in 58 (43 per cent).
Onana is a dab hand at keeping the goal dry, but his long-ball traits could potentially be a game-changer for United. After the debacle at Brentford last August, Ten Hag realised he could not always play short, especially with De Gea.
It meant he had to go long at times, but De Gea’s 43.6 per cent accuracy over longer distances was mid-table at best. The modern-day goalkeeper needs to be a jack of all trades and De Gea unfortunately is not.
United need to move forward and Onana seems to offer more versatility and capability with the ball to feet.
His signing could influence the type of striker Ten Hag ultimately goes for, perhaps namely one that can get his head to a ball as well as enjoy a ball to feet. If signed, should Onana get near Ederson’s long-range pass success rate, United could be laughing.
