Andre Onana’s time at Manchester United needs to come to an end once the season is over.
The Cameroonian arrived with much promise, a finalist in the 2023 Champions League and being voted one of the top players in the world at the Ballon d’Or rankings of the same year.
Finally, United were supposed to have replaced an error prone David de Gea with one of the best ball playing keepers in the world.
Nonetheless, fast forward 21 months and it will be hard to find many who think Onana has been an improvement on De Gea in any way.
The goalkeeper spoke arrogantly before the Europa League tie against Olympique Lyonnais, claiming that the Red Devils were “way better” than their opponents.
This sparked a response from Lyon player and former United star, Nemanja Matic, who claimed Onana was the worst United keeper in modern history.
After his showing in the match, it is hard to argue with that logic. He palmed a soft free kick into his goal for Lyon’s first and in the dying embers of the match, let a tameless shot bounce off him and into the path of Rayan Cherki who gratefully equalised.
There are rumours that Onana will be dropped for tomorrow’s match against Newcastle United and he really couldn’t have too many complaints.
The issue is Onana has constantly made errors during his time at Old Trafford. It would be disingenuous to suggest he hasn’t had some good moments.
He made a miraculous save against Crystal Palace in September and made a couple of big stops against Real Sociedad in the first leg in Spain to keep the score at 1-1.
Nonetheless, this should be expected from a Man United keeper. Onana’s issue is every time he gets back into form, he is only moments or matches away from making his next big mistake.
He also has a tendency to do it at the worst possible moment. Last season his errors probably cost United qualification from the group stage of the Champions League as he let in two soft free kick goals against Galatasaray as United blew a two-goal advantage twice in Turkiye.
The Cameroon international also made two blunders in a crucial home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion and also in last year’s FA Cup final, which almost let Manchester City back in the game.
Onana is also the keeper in the Premier League who has most errors leading to goals since 2023, showing that his errors are not only frequent but also costly.
Another reason for the club to rid themselves of Onana is he has never delivered with his feet. He was supposed to revolutionise how United played out from the back but it is hard to see any real evidence of this after almost two seasons.
He seems to frequently put people under pressure with certain passes and has a penchant to play it long, often with little accuracy or much thought.
Additionally, the ...