Inter and Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana notes that the approach to age in Italy is very different to Ajax and Barcelona. ‘At 26 years old they still consider you a bambino.’
The shot-stopper made the move as a free agent over the summer after his contract with Ajax ran down, while before that he grew up in the Barcelona youth academy until the transfer in January 2015 to Amsterdam.
Someone with 148 Eredivisie games under his belt, 214 in all competition for Ajax, was not rushed into the starting XI at San Siro.
“In Italy at 26 years old they still consider you here as a ‘bambino’,” Onana told the Rinat YouTube Channel, using the word for ‘kid.’
“But I’m happy that I had the experience and luck of having debuted early. At 19 years old I was already a starter at Ajax and the truth is that they were wonderful years, we made history and I am happy with everything we did. I have to look forward, the life of a goalkeeper is very long and we still have a long way to go.”
Onana has essentially replaced Samir Handanovic, who at 38 years of age was the first choice until several weeks into the current campaign.
“Samir is a great goalkeeper and at 38 years old is doing things well. It’s the way to go to be able to play for many years.”
He also called Milan a ‘top city’ and said it reminds him of Barcelona.
That’s because Buffon is still playing at 63.
At 39, Allegri will play you at LB