“Onana was playing like a holding midfielder. He was in the positions of a holding midfielder. We struggled.”

Man City supervisor Pep Guardiola was bowled over by the Champions League closing efficiency of Inter’s Andre Onana, the person that would change into Man Utd’s subsequent No 1 goalkeeper.

It’s a giant praise from a supervisor that has pioneered the ball-playing goalkeeper. Guardiola’s use of Victor Valdes at Barcelona was seen as revolutionary in 2009. That affect can now be seen throughout the Premier League.

David De Gea, who was came upon at instances final season for his lack of high quality together with his ft, has introduced he is not going to return to Old Trafford after 12 seasons, making a emptiness for Onana. Man Utd are working to discover a compromise with the Italian facet for the Cameroon worldwide, and the deal is edging closer.

Once once more Man Utd supervisor Erik ten Hag seems to have turned to a participant he has labored with beforehand. Onana performed beneath Ten Hag at Ajax, the place they received three league titles collectively and reached the Champions League semi-final in 2019.

But why is Ten Hag so eager to reunite together with his former goalkeeper?

“He is probably the most sensational goalkeeper Man Utd will get for a long time,” Dutch soccer knowledgeable Marcel van der Kraan informed Sky Sports News.

“[His ability on the ball] is exactly what made him so popular at Ajax. Some of his antics were almost hilarious at times but always brilliant.”

Onana arrived at Ajax as an 18-year-old after leaving Barcelona and there have been some considerations about his model. But legendary Man Utd goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar noticed one thing particular within the teenager.

“He was a bit overconfident early in his career,” Van der Kraan added of Onana. “Edwin van der Sar was convinced of him. Some of the scouts at Ajax did not want to touch him because they thought he was a liability with all his tricks and antics.

“But Van der Sar mentioned, ‘Look we wish to get this boy he’s going to be sensible’. Ever since becoming a member of Ajax he was an enormous success.”

Onana, who was banned from soccer for 9 months after mistakenly consuming a banned substance, has gone from energy to energy since leaving the Eredivise. The Champions League closing was the proper stage to remind the world of his expertise.

“Now there is a bit more calm in his game and you could see in the Champions League final some of the build up he does,” mentioned Van der Kraan. “He can be a sweeper, he can be a full-back, he can be a midfielder, but let’s keep him in goal because that’s where he’s best.

“Onana is, some fans call it crazy, but there is always logic behind it. It is rare to find a goalkeeper like him. No one has the confidence of Onana. If United succeed in bringing him in the fans will love him.”

Even earlier than the Champions League closing, Guardiola was cautious of Onana’s strengths and the way they might doubtlessly damage City.

“The goalkeeper, Onana, makes it really difficult to deploy a high press against,” mentioned Guardiola. “You cannot press the goalkeeper properly. Inter are masters at keeping the ball.”

If you’ve got watched Man Utd final season, you’ll know that De Gea was nearly the alternative of press resistant. His insecurity on the ball solely served to encourage opposition groups to press. Think Brentford 4-0 Man Utd on the Gtech final August.

Ten Hag is insistent on enjoying out from the again and there have been clear indicators of progress in his first season, helped by the introduction of Lisandro Martinez at centre-back. But previous habits die onerous, and De Gea’s shortcomings on the ball actually held the workforce again.

As the FA Cup closing defeat to Man City demonstrated in June, United have been predictable when pressed effectively. Both De Gea’s distribution and shot-stopping have been doubtful on that afternoon, with City’s deputy goalkeeper Stefan Ortega displaying Ten Hag precisely what he’s lacking.

“If you look at United, for example, it is long ball,” Guardiola, talking forward of the Istanbul closing, added as he in contrast City’s rivals to Inter. “With Marcus Rashford and another one (forward) to run onto.

“But Inter are completely different, they hold the ball. That is why you must take into consideration what you must do. With the ball, Inter are very, excellent – that’s the reason they’re within the Champions League closing.”

At the center of that may be a goalkeeper brimming with confidence.

What do the stats say?

Sky Sports’ Adam Smith:

Distribution and positioning

As Guardiola identified, Onana acted nearly as a holding midfielder at instances towards City within the Champions League closing and his potential on the ball is a key attribute attracting suitors.

The passing networks under present how Onana has usually performed out from the again with three central defenders in entrance of him, typically going longer to the defensive midfielder, when enjoying over the press, or discovering both full-back down the flanks.

The graphics under present the end result and distance of each goal-kick taken by De Gea and Onana within the Premier League and Champions League, respectively, final season, displaying how Onana steadily completes passes into that defensive-midfield space – along with having a far higher success charge when firing lengthy balls to the forwards.

Indeed, the passing sonars under reveal how Onana is simpler at discovering team-mates in nearly each path.

Put all of that collectively and the desk under highlights Onana’s passing potential completely: the Cameroon star surpasses the Spaniard in nearly each passing metric – aside from De Gea usually pumps goal-kicks significantly farther upfield.

Shot-stopping

Onana was one of many standout stars throughout final season’s Champions League marketing campaign, en-route to their defeat to Manchester City within the closing – notably producing a double cease within the 1-0 win over Porto, who had their very own rising star between the sticks in Diogo Costa.

The Cameroon worldwide was additionally instrumental within the 2-0 first-leg win over rivals AC Milan – pitting him towards in-demand France worldwide stopper Mike Maignan.

The scatter graph under reveals how Onana ranked among the many elite for preserving clear sheets throughout Inter’s European marketing campaign. Out of all ‘keepers who clocked 360 minutes or extra, solely Ederson recorded a greater save share and clean-sheet ratio – whereas no different stopper prevented extra targets, in accordance with xG.

Top golf equipment have tracked the 27-year-old for a while, however these performances on Europe’s grand stage elevated the ‘keeper’s inventory. How does he form up towards De Gea – the gloves he could be anticipated to fill?

De Gea bowed out after 12 years at Old Trafford with the Golden Glove – preserving 17 clear sheets within the Premier League final season.

Despite De Gea’s exploits, when evaluating every ‘keeper’s league stats final time period, Onana nonetheless conceded fewer targets per 90 minutes and recorded a better save share in Serie A – though De Gea was the marginally busier ‘keeper, stored extra clear sheets and achieved a greater goal-prevention charge, in accordance with xG.

When visualised towards all goalkeepers in Europe’s high 5 leagues, each stoppers rank among the many best possible for stopping pictures from shut vary and preserving clear sheets.

However, in contrast to De Gea, Onana additionally ranks among the many high 5 per cent for his frequency of profitable passes and avoiding expensive errors – whereas additionally being simpler at stopping pictures fired from vary.

The graphic under reveals the goalmouth location for each correct shot De Gea confronted within the Premier League final season and divulges his all-round effectiveness – unsurprisingly, being weakest at saving high and low in each corners of his objective.

Onana’s goalmouth save places under counsel he’s superior at saving makes an attempt low within the corners – however shipped all 4 pictures struck excessive within the corners.

It will likely be a seismic change of guard at Manchester United following 12 years of service from De Gea. While Onana’s shot-stopping abilities seem marginally inferior to De Gea, the Cameroon worldwide’s distribution abilities and reliability seem to have wooed the membership’s hierarchy.

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