André Onana is not bothered by criticism at Manchester United as he faced the same situation at Inter: ‘It ended with eternal love, but the Red Devils are a bigger club.’
The Cameroon international was one of Manchester United’s biggest purchases of 2023 as he moved to Old Trafford last summer in a €50m deal from Inter.
Onana had joined the Nerazzurri a year earlier on a free transfer from Ajax and during his first and only season at the Stadio Meazza, he was named the best goalkeeper of the 2022-23 Champions League.
During his latest interview with Sky Sport Italia, Onana spoke about his move to Old Trafford and his tough start between the Red Devils’ sticks.
“It’s too big as a dream. I come from a humble family, we had nearly nothing. I started playing with my friends in Cameroon and I didn’t expect I would have this career,” he said.
“The truth is that it’s something big. I’ve been working all my life to be here, and I am extremely proud to represent Manchester United and wear this shirt that weighs a lot.”
Manchester United sit seventh in the Premier League table and have been eliminated from the Champions League group stage. Onana has had part of the responsibility for Manchester United’s poor results with some mistakes in the first part of the campaign.
“Errors are part of the training. People have big expectations from me; this is why I’ve been criticised a lot,” he said.
“To me, it’s not a problem because I am accustomed to it. It happened at Inter too. I was criticised at the beginning and it ended with eternal love with Inter.
“Manchester United are a bigger club and people have big expectations, but I am sure that by doing things well, we will soon smile as it happened at Inter. Not many believed in us [last season], but then we proved what we could do, and I am really happy with what we achieved last season.
“Now, my future is at Manchester United, we have to stand up and do well. These moments happen and we have to face them. Good and bad moments don’t last forever.”
Onana won the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa in 2022-23 at Inter, keeping 19 clean sheets in 41 appearances across all competitions.