Manchester United has completed the signing of goalkeeper Andre Onana from Inter Milan for 51 million euros ($57 million) on Thursday, reuniting Erik ten Hag with a player with whom he won three Dutch titles at Ajax.
Onana has joined on a five-year contract. There is also an option to extend the deal by a further 12 months and United will have to pay 4 million euros ($4.5 million) in add-ons, dependent on his success at the club.
“To join Manchester United is an incredible honour and I have worked hard all my life to get to this moment, overcoming many obstacles along the way," the Cameroon goalkeeper said.
Onana will join up with his new teammates on their preseason tour of the United States.
He replaces David de Gea, who announced his departure from United after 12 years at the club earlier this month.
Good at passing the ball
Comfortable with the ball at his feet, Onana should allow Ten Hag to implement his plans to build play from defense, which he struggled to do with De Gea last season.
Onana’s footwork was repeatedly cited by Pep Guardiola as one of Inter’s key strengths ahead of the Champions League final last month, which Manchester City won 1-0.
The 27-year-old Onana’s distribution and ability to step out his area to receive the ball were on show in that final as he justified Guardiola’s praise.
United went into this offseason with a top striker as its priority in the transfer market, but the need for a new keeper became increasingly clear toward the end of the season as doubts over De Gea’s distribution grew.
The Spanish keeper was also criticised for his role in Ilkay Gundogan’s winning goal in United’s FA Cup final loss against City.
Clean sheets
But he will be a hard act for Onana to follow. No Premier League goalkeeper kept more clean sheets than him last season and he was named United’s player of the year on four occasions.
He was also part of its last league title-winning team and lifted four major trophies with the club.
Onana only spent one season at Inter where he won the Italian Cup and Super Cup. He also helped the club reach the Champions League final.
He was sent home from last year's World Cup after a dispute with head coach Rigobert Song. He later announced he had ended his career with the national team.
