United's flagship summer signing had an inconsistent season but bettered De Gea's final campaign, Goalkeeper xG numbers show.
Header Image - via BEIN Sports
Beaten by the blue half of Manchester in the 2023 Champions League Final, Andre Onana made a switch to the city's red side in perhaps the most significant goalkeeper transfer of last year’s summer window.
The Cameroonian goalkeeper replaced Manchester United’s long-serving number one, David de Gea, in Erik Ten Hag’s landmark summer capture.
De Gea’s final few seasons at Old Trafford were a far cry from the club-wide - and more notably, personal - successes he enjoyed in the early-mid 2010s. By the mid-decade, De Gea held a gold-plated membership card to the ‘best in the world’ club between the sticks. But, as United’s form faltered, and the club began to crack in the boardroom and on the pitch, the Spaniard found himself taking an increasing number of swings from the press and the stands.
It was by no means beyond reason to feel some degree of sympathy for a hardworking, and undoubtedly talented, professional who, becoming the most senior member of the Old Trafford dressing room as time went on, was often taking the brunt of the fall for what in reality were team-wide failings.
Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, Solskjaer, and Ragnick all stood by their veteran number one. Ten Hag did likewise for a season. That bluntly changed at the close of the 2023 campaign when the framework for an contract extension - widely reported in the press - collapsed.
De Gea’s contract at United expired on July 1st, 2023. Exactly one week later, he formally ended 12 years at Old Trafford as United’s seventh all-time appearance maker.
By July 16th, Andre Onana was reported to have agreed terms with Ten Hag’s side. Four days later the club confirmed their new £40 million-plus custodian of the number one shirt (though Onana actually took number 24).
So, did it go quite to plan? The jury remains out.
Goalkeeper xG data indicates that Onana performed marginally better over 2023/24 than de Gea did in 2022/23. Onana recorded an overall goal value/90 of +0.14 last season, whilst De Gea only achieved a +0.04 the year before.
Onana has been worth around one goal every ten games more than De Gea in the Premier League. While Onana’s shot stopping has been worse than De Gea’s, it has still been above the Premier League average level. He made up for this though due to his far superior preventative and distributing qualities.
Goalkeeper xG finds that the Cameroonian shot-stopper has been worth an additional two points to Man Utd vs if they had De Gea in goal this season. This had no positive impact on United’s league standing compared to last season, as the Red Devils dropped from 75 points to 60 points vs 2022/23.
The numbers are undeniable. United’s outfield unit actually ended the season 17 points worse off. Importantly, this drop was not down to Onana, as Onana performed above the Premier League goalkeeper average and better than De Gea last season.
However, Onana’s lack of consistency remains a big talking point. It’s the main reason why pundits may think he’s had a poor season.
In reality, Onana had an inconsistent season. For the level Manchester United fans and pundits demand of their players, Onana theoretically performed poorly for his expected level. However, mathematically, he has still been an upgrade on an ageing De Gea whose time at Old Trafford was up.
