The beginning of Onana hasn't been good, but at 27 years old, he has plenty of time to solve his bad start
The departure of David de Gea from Manchester was dramatic. United let go of a goalkeeper who had been at the club for a decade, a three-time winner of the Matt Busby award for best player of the season, and a two-time Premier League Golden Glove winner. All to get rid of his salary, one of the highest in the league, close to €400,000 per week.
After offering him a lower contract renewal, the Spanish goalkeeper accepted it and later regretted it when United withdrew the offer. De Gea left as a free agent and at Old Trafford they brought in an André Onana who came with the credentials of being a champion in Italy in 2022 and reaching the Champions League final in 2023.
Manchester United paid over 50 million for him and offered him a five-year contract with an option for one more. The United board and Erik Ten Hag believed they had solved one of the team's many problems; they got rid of one of the big contracts -only surpassed at the time by Cristiano Ronaldo's, who earned almost 500,000 pounds per week- and ended up with a goalkeeper who was hated and loved in equal measure.
His long-term performance, delivering points season after season, was beyond question, but his occasional mistakes condemned him. With Onana, they wanted to put an end to the inconsistency and settle the debate.
After ten matches, the debate is more alive than ever. The Cameroonian goalkeeper is not convincing and already has three serious errors to his name: a foul on a Wolves player that should have been a penalty -recognized by the Premier League-, a calamitous mistake on a shot by Leroy Sané against Bayern Munich, and the gift to Dries Mertens that led to Casemiro's expulsion against Galatasaray. Errors, goals conceded, and unimpressive performances raise the question: Is Onana improving on De Gea?
In statistical terms, Onana has conceded 18 goals in his first ten matches with the Manchester United shirt, and has an expected goals against (xG) of 1.65. In other words, he is conceding more goals than he should according to statistical parameters.
If we take as a reference De Gea's last season, the Spanish goalkeeper played 58 matches and conceded 61 goals. In other words, he received just over one goal per game. This, taking into account that his xG is 1.2 goals against, implies that he conceded fewer goals than he should have.
But in terms of saves, Onana is being bombarded more than De Gea. The Cameroonian has faced 4.7 shots on target per 90 minutes, while the Spanish goalkeeper, last season, faced 3.59 shots per game. In other words, Onana is facing more shots.
In favor of the former Inter player, it should also be noted that he is making more saves. Onana stops 2.9 balls per game, while De Gea stops 2.74.
The beginning of Onana hasn't been good, but at 27 years old, he has plenty of time to solve his bad start. De Gea is already in the past, and a blot on the recent history of United due to the way he left. Just another one.