Andre Onana is closing in on a move to Turkish side Trabzonspor, which will end his nightmare spell at Old Trafford, and Theo Walcott has revealed what he lacked during that time.
Onana has struggled at Manchester United, and his consistent mistakes make it difficult for Ruben Amorim to trust him as his first-choice goalkeeper.
The 29-year-old joined the 20-time champions for £47million from Inter Milan in 2023, but hasn’t covered himself in glory since then.
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His last game for the Red Devils took place during their loss against Grimsby Town, with Amorim having opted to start Altay Bayindir in all three of Man United’s Premier League games so far.
Andre Onana smiling at the Man United fans
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Theo Walcott believes that Andre Onana hid behind his mistakes
No goalkeeper made more errors that led to goals from Premier League clubs in all competitions than Onana since the start of last season, which is a damning statistic for the shot-stopper.
This is why Amorim has decided on this situation, and Walcott explained some of Onana’s problems on The Overlap US.
“Every time I see him not make a save, I’m like, ‘Oh, you should do better there,’ I feel like, ‘You need to be a bit more present.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s easy.’
“I’m not normally like that for keepers, because I stay away from them because they’re different. When I say different, I mean a bit stir crazy, but he doesn’t seem that type.
“He seems like he’s too busy with how he looks, because he always pulls up the socks. That’s a reflection of his problems that he has, when he makes a mistake, he needs to hide.
“They’re a keeper, they need characters at Man United, and they haven’t had one for many years. David de Gea was a bit of a character; Van Der Sar, Schmeichel was probably the biggest one, of course.
“He ain’t a Manchester United keeper, and I think it’s okay to say that.”
Manchester United have signed Senne Lammens to replace Andre Onana
Onana has conceded 150 goals in 102 appearances for Man United, which is why the club could not continue persisting with him, especially if they wanted to climb the Premier League table this season.
Man United purchased Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for £18million to become their new first-choice goalkeeper, and Bayindir is expected to revert to being their second-choice goalkeeper.
Lammens will likely be thrown in at the deep end this weekend, as he could debut in a high-pressure derby against Manchester City.
Lammens will have plenty to prove, given that Man United opted to sign him over Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez, a decision Rio Ferdinand disagreed with.