Manchester United are set to replace David De Gea with Andre Onana, and their whole system is about to be improved
(Image credit: Future)
Manchester United are on the verge of completing a transfer for goalkeeper Andre Onana from Inter Milan, and while plenty has been made of his ability with the ball at his feet, what he brings to Erik Ten Hag's side could go way, way beyond just tidy control and building out from the back.
Indeed, Onana's distribution (long and short) is exceptional, the Cameroonian is arguably one of the best in the world in this respect. His close control allows him to beat a man if necessary, too, and he is certainly a major upgrade on former Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea when it comes to playing out from the back.
However, it extends far beyond Onana just being able to pass better than De Gea - it actually means the entire team can play further forward during every attack, as FourFourTwo's Adam Clery demonstrates in the video above.
Instead of sitting deep because team-mates didn't trust the former Spanish No.1 on the ball, the whole team can now push 10, 15 or even 20 yards higher because Onana is that good on the ball.
Andre Onana is one of the best in the world with the ball at his feet (Image credit: Getty Images)
This, in turn, creates more space in other areas of the pitch, and also allows United's attacking stars to play closer to the opposition goal, thus making chances and goals more likely.
With De Gea in net, United would rarely use him in build-ups. The team would instead focus on triangles between other players, such as through Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Casemiro. Onana, though, will be able to create diamonds, effectively making him an extra player for the opposition to defend.
And it's imperative opposing sides defend Onana, otherwise the risk of him splitting them open with line-breaking passes is high.
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As he demonstrated in the Champions League final against Manchester City, his unerring accuracy to fire passes into the feet of Edin Dzeko, Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez means other teams simply can't afford neglect him, and that gives Erik Ten Hag's side a distinct advantage.
Andre Onana displayed how comfortable he is on the ball during the Champions League final (Image credit: Getty Images)
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Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
