Cameroonian shot-stopper Andre Onana arrived to much fanfare off the back of a stellar campaign for Inter Milan – reaching the Champions League final with Nerazzurri.
However, the 28-year-old now faces a defining campaign in his Manchester United career, with a divide in the fanbase about his suitability for the role.
The Nkol Ngok man was signed for an initial fee of £43.8 million – rekindling his relationship with Erik ten Hag to revolutionise an ability to play out from the back.
But, a series of uncomfortable displays and questionable decisions have set an uncertain backdrop for one of the most scrutinised positions in English football.
A Difficult Start
Unfortunately, he had a rather challenging start to life in England.
Despite earning a clean sheet on his Premier League debut against Wolves, Onana produced a run of error-strewn displays – particularly in the Champions League.
He was at fault for goals in the group-stage encounters against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray as Ten Hag’s side failed to get any points in their opening two fixtures.
The former Barcelona man had a reprieve when he saved a last-gasp penalty to give his team a vital victory at home to Copenhagen in match-week three.
Sadly, the joy was momentary. He soon found himself at the centre of amplified criticism after several high-profile mistakes during the return leg against Galatasaray in Turkey.
The Red Devils twice threw away a two-goal lead to frustratingly draw 3-3 and all but end their hopes of qualifying for the last-16.
Marked Improvement
The Samuel Eto’o academy graduate was unfazed, proving a far safer pair of hands in the second half of the season.
He put together a much-improved run of form despite having an ever-changing defensive unit ahead of him – and regularly facing an abnormally high volume of shots per game.
In an interview with the BBC in May, Onana conceded that it took him “six months to feel good at Old Trafford”.
He said, “I arrived as the best goalkeeper in the world and ‘boom’ it went down. It was like ‘What happened?’,”
“But that is how difficult football is sometimes. It depends if you want to stay down there or stand up and fight.
“I know what I did to arrive here. I know who I am. I decided to stand up and fight.”
The Cameroon international ended the season on a high with victory in the FA Cup, where – despite a late error – he earned plaudits for his overall display to claim his first silverware for the Reds.
Stepping up
The former Ajax man will aim to step up to the plate and cement his status as an integral player for the 20-time English champions.
He will no doubt be keen to put the blunders from last-term firmly in the past and finally show why his new employers saw him as the ideal successor to long-serving ‘keeper, David de Gea.
The three-time Eredivisie winner is a hugely confident character and has displayed resilience to return from so many body blows last year – an admirable trait.
Big season on the horizon
The experienced net-minder has already enjoyed a bright start to pre-season – putting in assured displays in two friendly fixtures.
One of the most exciting aspects of his game is his ability on the ball and his calmness to pick out a teammate.
We didn’t see this as much as we would have expected last season.
With the impending return of teammates Lisandro Martínez and Luke Shaw – plus the recent addition of highly-rated young French defender Leny Yoro – there is an expectation that Onana can finally hit the heights we all anticipated when he first arrived twelve months ago.
Do you think the Cameroon international is the right man to be United’s long-term number one?
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