Andre Onana went through a lot of doubts in his first few months at Manchester United. For the first time in his career, the 28-year-old began to question himself, to wonder whether he had made the right decision in moving to Old Trafford.
Onana had looked like he would slot in perfectly when he patrolled 20 yards outside his area while his team attacked in his first pre-season appearance, against Real Madrid in Houston. That came soon after his £47m move from Inter Milan and not long after he left the Champions League final in Istanbul with Pep Guardiola’s praise ringing in his ears.
Guardiola had called the goalkeeper one of the best in the world when it comes to helping with the build-up play and his comfort on the ball and aggressive positioning signalled an immediate contrast with his predecessor David de Gea.
But when Onana was beaten from the centre circle by Florian Sotoca in the Old Trafford friendly win against Lens it kickstarted a period of uncertainty. He was fortunate not to concede a late penalty on his competitive debut against Wolves and endured a disastrous Champions League campaign as United conceded 15 goals in six games, finishing bottom of what had looked a routine group.
When Onana blundered on the opening night of the group stage in a 4-3 defeat at Bayern Munich he told his teammates he would front up during broadcast interviews, but the mistakes continued to flow and it was impossible to stick his chest out after every error.
United didn’t see the best of him with his feet either. The absence of their best ball-playing centre-back, in Lisandro Martinez, compromised the team’s ability to play out. Onana ended up launching most of his clearances long.
