Onana, that’s his name – the lowdown on Manchester United’s new goalkeeper

Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana is set to join Manchester United after a deal was struck with both player and club, the PA news agency understands.

The 27-year-old will replace David De Gea as first choice between the posts for United boss Erik ten Hag, who previously worked with Onana at Ajax.

Here, the PA news agency asks why Onana is the man selected to take the gloves at Old Trafford.

Since being appointed as United boss last summer, Ten Hag has been keen to instil in his team a structure of playing out from the back. That means he wants his goalkeeper and defenders to be comfortable in possession, happy to have the ball at their feet and build attacks themselves. De Gea, for all of the shot-stopping prowess that brought two Premier League Golden Gloves his way, was never a goalkeeper who seemed pleased to be given such a role. Onana is different and revels in the role and proved it in Inter’s Champions League final run last season. He is already accustomed to Ten Hag’s approach and it will be hoped he can settle straight into the United system without much need for adaptation, his abilities also bringing a calming influence to a backline that wilted under the pressures that comes with Ten Hag’s preferred method of play.

Two years ago Onana was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League, with Arsenal among the reported suitors. Those links materialised at a time when Onana was serving a ban for violating UEFA’s doping rules – his initial one-year suspension reduced to nine months on appeal. Having tested positive for the diuretic drug Furosemide, Onana claimed to have taken his wife’s medication by mistake. His ban began in February 2021 and featured for Ajax just six times the following season before