For the first time in 12 years, Manchester United have a new regular starting goalkeeper. Andre Onana has had a mixed beginning to life at Old Trafford, but he has the potential to revolutionise Erik ten Hag’s team following more than a decade of David de Gea.
De Gea initially struggled when he joined United aged just 20 from Atletico Madrid but was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world within a few short years. His form ultimately dipped after 2018 and the Spaniard, who was an elite shot stopper at his very best but often struggled with the more modern demands of a goalkeeper, eventually bid farewell to the club this summer.
United spent the best part of £44m to sign Onana from Inter, a fee which could rise to more than £47m with add-ons, reuniting him with Ten Hag after several years together at Ajax.
The former Cameroon international has made a name for himself with exceptional technical and distribution skills in the same mould as Brazilian duo Ederson and Alisson. He was lobbed from the centre circle on his Old Trafford debut during pre-season, but made a number of important saves on his Premier League debut against Wolves – prior to surviving a late penalty scare.
De Gea established himself as one of the all-time Old Trafford greats, but could Onana end up breaking some of the records that were set over the years?
De Gea left Old Trafford with 545 appearances under his belt, having broken Alex Stepney’s club record of 539 that had stood since 1979 in his final months as a United player.
It is the most of any goalkeeper, or indeed any overseas non-British or Irish player.
De Gea arrived aged 20 and left at 32, amassing his appearance record over 12 seasons. It is worth noting he had spells out of the team in 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2020/21 and only played in excess of 50 games in two campaigns in more than a decade.
At 27, Onana has just about enough time on his side to surpass De Gea. Were he to make an average of 50 appearances per season over 11 years, he would break the 545 figure, although it requires incredible longevity and personal discipline to stay at that level for that long.
However, even after 11 years, Onana would still be younger than Edwin van der Sar was when the Dutchman played his final United game aged 40 in 2011. With goalkeepers typically playing longer than outfield players and developments in sport science, it’s not unfeasible Onana could last.
If Onana has the longevity to even get close to De Gea’s appearances, logic suggests he would also be challenging his predecessor’s clean sheet record.
De Gea kept 147 Premier League clean sheets during his time in England, fourth on the league’s all-time list behind only Petr Cech (202), David James (169) and Mark Schwarzer (152).
For reference, Edwin van der Sar kept 132 clean sheets in the Premier League across his spells with United and Fulham, while Peter Schmeichel recorded 128 with United, Aston Villa and Manchester City.
De Gea played for United during the club’s worst period in the Premier League era. If Ten Hag has the kind of long-term impact fans are hoping for after a positive first year, Onana could even keep clean sheets at a faster rate.
This might be tougher for Onana to beat if he is playing in a better United team, because De Gea was consistently voted the club’s player of the season at a time when he was being kept so busy.
De Gea won the coveted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year prize at United’s annual awards in four of the first five season following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, before his form became inconsistent and when the club was arguably most struggling to find its identity and achieve consistent results.
De Gea shares the overall best tally for his four wins with Cristiano Ronaldo, who got his record-equalling fourth upon his return to Old Trafford in 2021/22.
The Premier League Golden Glove wasn’t a thing when Peter Schmeichel was at United in the 1990s, so that ruled him out of winning one. Had it been introduced earlier than it eventually was in 2004, the Dane would have won it in 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1997/98. But it wasn’t, so he didn’t.
Edwin van der Sar got one in 2008/09, a season during which he went 11 consecutive Premier League games and over 1,000 minutes without conceding. But De Gea got two, in 2017/18 and 2022/23, the latter under Ten Hag when his individual form was up and down like a rollercoaster.
With United coming back and clearly a better defensive team under the Dutch coach, it is certainly feasible that Onana could get more than two Golden Glove awards if he sticks around long enough.
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