After letting go of club star David de Gea, United agreed to pay £47.2 million to get the 27-year-old from Inter in the summer.
Onana was chosen in part because of his skill with the ball in his hands, and it was anticipated that he would enable Erik ten Hag’s strategy to transform United into a team that could play out from the back and perform better in transition move forward more quickly.
While there hasn’t been much proof that Onana is aiding United in that regard, the sheer quantity of elementary goalkeeping mistakes he has already made is more concerning.
While Ten Hag has no imminent plans to release a player he was so eager on recruiting, his form is extremely concerning. Last weekend, his team’s feeble attempt to block Mathias Jensen’s strike would have resulted in another defeat, were it not for Scott McTominay’s heroics in the closing minutes.
Onana is frequently abused for his vulnerability in being too near to his line when getting ready to face shots, according to reports from last week.
According to ESPN, United’s own backroom staff was disturbed by the way Onana responded after Leroy Sane’s soft shot slipped through his grasp and into the goal during the team’s most recent Champions League loss to Bayern Munich.
It was reported that Onana seemed to need some time to recover from that slip-up; it took him more than 30 minutes before he resumed voicing his allegiance to his supporters.
Onana is adamant about making a success of his United career and is unwilling to miss a month of the season at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019. Ten Hag’s staff is working hard to help Onana improve the mental and technical weaknesses in his game.
Rio Ferdinand, despite Onana’s best efforts, maintains that he must ‘buck up his ideas’ if he wants to keep his spot ahead of another summer addition, Altay Bayndir.
‘Right now, because of the mistakes, there are nerves inside. Many individuals are inquiring as to whether he will survive. Earlier this week, Ferdinand stated, “I was there when De Gea arrived. He was obviously younger, but you know, he didn’t get off to a good start. His numbers in his first 10 or so games, in my opinion, are comparable to Onana’s.
I believe that if you were to ask Onana directly, he would respond, “This is not the start I wanted, this is nowhere near the level I am used to performing at, and this is not the standard required at Man Utd so I need to buck up my ideas.”