Chris Sutton believes Manchester United have ‘blundered’ their decision to replace David de Gea with Andre Onana.
Erik ten Hag let De Gea walk at the end of his contract this past summer after 12 seasons with the Red Devils.
United spent £47m to replace the Spaniard with Andre Onana from Inter Milan, with Ten Hag reuniting with his former Ajax keeper in big part, due to his superior ball-playing skills.
Onana has yet to justify Ten Hag’s faith in ditching De Gea, with the 27-year-old making a number of high-profile errors, including in Champions League defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.
When asked if Manchester United had ‘blundered’ their decision to sign Onana, Sutton said: ‘I think he’s a downgrade on De Gea. I really do.
Chris Sutton has told Mail Sport’s It’s All Coming Up that Man United’s £47m summer signing Andre Onana is a ‘downgrade’ on former keeper David de Gea who they let walk for free
Onana has had a tough start to life at United, already making a number of high-profile errors
A poor pass to Casemiro led to the Brazilian giving away a penalty and getting a second yellow
Onana then went down to ground far too easy allowing Mauro Icardi to chip him for the winner in Galatasaray’s 3-2 victory over Manchester United on Tuesday evening
Sutton believes Man United will look to sign a replacement for Onana next summer
‘I’ve seen enough of him. Is he better than De Gea with his feet? Probably, only just.
‘But I’m more interested in him keeping the ball out the back of the net and I think he’s made a lot of blunders this season. A lot of goalkeeping errors.
‘You go to the game against Bayern Munich, a couple of errors, and even the game this week (against Galatasaray) where I thought the third goal, he went down so early.
‘I’m not so sure about him. I think Manchester United will make a change. I’m not saying this season but I think at the end of the season they need to get an upgrade on Onana.’
Ladyman responded that Sutton has gone ‘very early’ with his call for United to replace Onana, bringing up De Gea’s struggles when he first joined Man United.
He said: ‘I was at the West Brom game many years ago when David de Gea made his league debut for Manchester United and looked like he’d never played in goal before.
‘And that start continued for a while, but he didn’t do bad in the end, De Gea, did he? So why should we not give Onana the same length of time to at least settle into the Premier League.’
Sutton responded: ‘Yeah, and that’s what I said to you in the first week of the podcast and I thought you were very quick to judge.
De Gea left Old Trafford after 12 years in the summer, with Ten Hag seeking out Onana in big part due to his ball-playing ability
‘I think I’ve seen enough of him to to think that, do you know what, with the actual basics of goalkeeping, keeping the ball out of the back of the net, I don’t see him anywhere near De Gea in that respect.
‘So I think Manchester United, we understand why Onana came in because he’s good with his feet and I know he made a bad error in the week against Galatasaray with the ball out to Casemiro – he got that really badly wrong.
‘That can happen. But I’m more worried about watching him week in and week out. I don’t think he’s commanding. I don’t think his shot stopping is great. And that’s not what Manchester Unitd need at this moment in time.
‘I think he’s a downgrade on De Gea and that’s a big worry. I think most Manchester United fans would agree with me.’
United fans had been pushing for a new keeper before the last transfer window following a number of notable high-profile errors by De Gea last season.
Mail Sport’s Ian Ladyman said there has been ‘remarkable revisionism’ by Man United fans over De Gea, following Onana’s struggles at Old Trafford
Mail Sport’s Ladyman said there has since been some ‘remarkable revisionism’ by United fans over De Gea, due to Onana’s struggles since arriving from Ajax.
He said: ‘I have to say there has been some remarkable revisionism by some United fans about De Gea now.
‘I was appalled by the way that some United supporters almost kind of chased De Gea out of the football club, almost hounded him out of the football club, were so happy that he’d gone.
‘Given the service that goalkeeper had given the club over the years, I thought that was poor. And I must admit, I’m not saying I take pleasure in it.
‘But it’s interesting now to see some of those same voices now saying how much they missed De Gea now that the guy that’s replaced him has started uncertainly. But I do think by the way, that they should give Onana little bit more time.’
