da doce： It's beginning to look like the Red Devils overpaid for the Cameroon international, who has endured a nightmare start to life at Old Trafford

da luck： Andre Onana's £47 million ($57m) summer move to Manchester United from Inter felt like a big moment for Erik ten Hag. It was the first time since the Sir Alex Ferguson-era that the Red Devils had signed a player considered to be the best in the world in his position, and they reportedly beat a number of other top clubs to his signature.

United won the Carabao Cup and finished third in the Premier League during Ten Hag's encouraging debut season, but it was patently clear by the end of it that De Gea's time at Old Trafford was up. The manager made the ruthless call to let him go, and Onana looked like the ideal replacement – the final piece in the puzzle for a team eyeing a potential title charge.

But just three months into the Cameroon goalkeeper's United career, he has proven to be every bit as calamitous between the sticks as his predecessor. Onana has conceded 18 goals in the Red Devils' first 10 matches in all competitions this term, and they've lost six of them.

Ten Hag's side have fallen to 10th in the Premier League, and after a shocking 3-2 home defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League, they have an uphill task ahead of them to reach the knockout stages in Europe. No matter the standard of the opposition, United are being cut open at will, and Onana is simply not doing enough as the last line of defence.

GettyNo reason to miss De Gea

There is no doubt that Onana has been a huge disappointment in a United shirt so far, and that has led to a large number of fans blasting the club on social media for failing to hand De Gea a new contract. The Spaniard became a popular figure over the course of his 12-year career at Old Trafford, and won the Premier League's Golden Glove award twice, along with multiple in-house Players' Player of the Year awards.

But as United embarked on a five-year trophy drought between 2017 and 2022, De Gea was guilty of numerous mistakes during that period. In a Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash against Barcelona in 2018-19, he gifted Lionel Messi his second goal of the game as United went on to lose the tie 4-0 on aggregate.

Chelsea beat United 3-1 in the semi-finals of the FA Cup the following season after De Gea let Oliver Giroud's near-post flick squirm past him and fumbled a tame Mason Mount shot into the net. He cost United valuable points in the Premier League time and time again too, conceding poor goals against the likes of Arsenal, Watford and Everton.

De Gea's decline continued in his final season, as his distribution and handling weaknesses were laid bare once again during a thumping 4-0 defeat away at Brentford, an FA Cup third-round encounter against Everton and in United's disappointing loss at Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

He signed off with another awful display in the FA Cup final, as Manchester City kept their treble quest on track with a 2-1 win at Wembley. It's truly staggering that so many people seem to have already forgotten just how much of a liability De Gea was.

Ten Hag was absolutely right to target a new number one goalkeeper in the summer. United were never going to reach the next level with De Gea, who unsurprisingly, is still struggling to find a new club to this day.

AdvertisementGettyDisastrous distribution

Onana's reputation as being elite among goalkeepers with the ball at his feet is the main reason he was identified as a primary target by Ten Hag, who had previously worked with him at Ajax. The United boss wanted a proper ball-playing 'keeper in the same mould as Ederson and Alisson – both of whom had a transformative effect after their respective moves to Manchester City and Liverpool.

Inter certainly benefitted from Onana's distribution skills during their surprise run to the Champions League final last season. He was ever-present in the competition and kept a total of eight clean sheets, with his best performance saved for the final against City.

Onana could do little to keep out Rodri's winning goal, but he set up a number of dangerous chances and attacks himself, which Inter really should have done better with. Had Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku been more clinical, the Italian giants might well have pulled off an upset for the ages.

De Gea, by contrast, was never comfortable with the ball at his feet, and so Onana was seen as a major upgrade. However, the Cameroonian seems to have regressed in the main area that he is seen as a specialist in.

Onana only has a pass accuracy of 76 percent at United, which means he is losing the ball one in four times on average. He appears to be lacking confidence, having also made just 246 passes in the Premier League, a total bettered by five other goalkeepers.

United might have at least avoided defeat against Galatasaray on Tuesday had it not been for Onana's terrible pass out in the 76th minute, which fell straight to the feet of Dries Mertens. Casemiro was left with no choice but to take out the Belgian and concede a penalty, and it was no surprise when the referee pulled out a red card.

Mauro Icardi missed the resulting spot-kick, but did make amends by going on to score the winner from open play, beating Onana far too easily with a dinked finish.

GettyPositioning problem

According to , opposing teams have already identified the most glaring flaw in Onana's game and set out to exploit it. When United don't have the ball, the 27-year-old can generally been seen hovering close to his goal line instead of pushing his defence forward.

The report states that players have been told to take shots at Onana as early as possible to catch him off guard. The United 'keeper is giving them a wider target to aim at instead of narrowing the angles by coming out and making himself big.

This was evident during the Red Devils' unconvincing 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest in August. Onana refused to go beyond his six-yard area as Taiwo Awoniyi ran through on goal before going to ground far too easily, which allowed the frontman to execute a simple chip to open the scoring.

During the Red Devils' 4-3 defeat away at Bayern Munich in the Champions League last month, Onana somehow allowed a weak Leroy Sane effort to sneak under him while he stood barely a yard off his line. Former United winger Wilfried Zaha also exploited Onana's hesitancy for Galatasaray, volleying home a long ball through the middle as the goalkeeper hung back.

Onana has faced 51 shots in total this season, conceding two more goals than expected, as per his xGOT value. United's defence has been a shambles in general as Ten Hag has dealt with an unprecedented injury crisis, but that's no excuse for Onana's failings – and he must improve quickly.

GettyBlind faith

After the Galatasaray game, Ten Hag was asked whether he would consider dropping Onana if it becomes obvious that the defence has lost confidence in United's new No.1. "He can be one of the best goalkeepers in the world," replied the 53-year-old tactician. "We have seen already his great capabilities and also his personality. He will make a mistake and bounce back, and will do so again, I am sure."

Ten Hag has proven to be a master of deflection in his first 16 months in charge at Old Trafford, more often than not backing his players in the face of intense criticism. He also jumped to Onana's defence after his costly error against Bayern, telling : "[In] football on the whole, [there] will always be mistakes and this is one mistake. So we also don't make it bigger than it is. This was not just Andre and then, after that, he made, in the second half, great saves for us and he shows his abilities."

Onana's ability to bounce back is very much in doubt, given the fact that he is making the same mistakes week after week. Ten Hag is protecting him to the best of his ability, but also appears to have blind faith that he will suddenly start proving himself as a world-class goalkeeper again.

In reality, United's coaching staff need to work closely with Onana on the training ground to iron out the rough edges in his game. If Ten Hag doesn't push him to up his standards, the former Inter 'keeper will continue to be a major problem.

The Dutchman has certainly not shied away from making tough decisions at Old Trafford, having facilitated Cristiano Ronaldo's exit before stripping Harry Maguire of the captaincy and exiling Jadon Sancho from the squad due to his unacceptable performances in training. Taking Onana out of the firing line, even just temporarily, would be another bold move – but it might just be a necessary one. United also signed Altay Bayindir as a back-up goalkeeper in the summer, and he's waiting in the wings for his chance to shine.