See Myself as a Modern Goalkeeper: Manchester United’s New Signing Andre Onana in His First Interview – News18

After the official announcement by Manchester United, the club has signed the Cameroonian goalkeeper, Andre Onana. Onana(27), was part of the Internazionale squad that made the Champions League final, started for the side but lost to Manchester City.

After the announcement of his signing, he sat down with the club to give his first interview. When asked about his ambition on playing in the Premier League, Onana commented, “For sure, it is the biggest league in the world, best competition to play, a huge challenge but I am happy to be here and hope to be capable to respond.”

Onana also shared that he had discussed with other players what it is like playing in the English top tier but believes that he just has to deliver on the pitch.

When asked about the club’s fanbase in Cameroon, Onana shared, “You can’t understand even if I try. In Cameroon, you divide the fans into French supporters and English supporters. All the English supporters are fans of Man United.”

Onana will be the tenth African player to sign for the club and he will be the second Cameroonian player to play for Manchester United after Eric Djemba-Djemba.

He also shared some insight on his play style, Onana spoke, “I am very comfortable playing from the back, but it is important to recognize the situation, especially what the team needs in certain moments. Sometimes you will have possession sometimes not and you have to be smart and try to help the team. I had my first training and the quality is amazing, I think sometimes we will have to play high or drop, but I see myself as a modern goalkeeper and I can adapt to every situation.”

READ MORE | Andre Onana Officially Introduced By Manchester United 

On reuniting with Erik Ten Hag, “We have done a lot of great things together, we reached a Champions League semi-finals with Ajax, with Ajax it’s not easy, something that happens every 20-25 years. We have a great relationship, one of the top coaches in the world. But it is not about saying, it is time to demonstrate it on the pitch.”

Onana will be looking to take the starting goal-keeper spot from De Gea who leaves the club on a free.

The keeper shared his excitement about playing at Old Trafford, he spoke,” I am very excited to play, I don’t want to think about it because I might struggle to sleep at night. It is a great honour to be part of this club and now it’s time to work hard and give back for the trust they had in me.”

The new signing also talked about making the switch from Inter to Manchester United, he commented, “Yes, it was important for me to train immediately, to know each other, to speak, to learn, to know my goal-keeping coaches, to know how things are going on and I think we made the right decision.”

The keeper has chosen 24 as his kit number which is close to the player. Onana shared that the number is his birthday which is on 2nd April.

When asked to send a message to the fans, Onana said, “We are going to fight for everything, it’s going to be hard to win against us and I think if we continue to work like this, stay united, then together we can achieve a lot of great things.”