Man Utd icon Rio Ferdinand offers theory on Erik ten Hag saga that is "weird"
Rio Ferdinand has suggested David De Gea's exit at Manchester United is "weird" - but has backed Erik ten Hag's decision to sign Andre Onana.
Long-serving goalkeeper De Gea was allowed to leave United this summer, with Ten Hag seemingly keen on bringing in a goalkeeper with better ball-playing skills. The Spaniard's exit came as a huge surprise, as it was expected that the shot-stopper would sign a new contract before a last-minute U-turn.
Ten Hag then placed Onana at the top of his wish list and the pair have been reunited in a £47million deal. The keeper worked with the Dutchman at Ajax, having spent time in Barcelona’s academy before he established himself at the Eredivisie outfit.
TNT Sports pundit Ferdinand has now given his verdict on the saga and said: "I think if you listen to Erik ten Hag and how he’s spoken about him, that’s (ball-playing ability) the big angle that has swayed his decision. In terms of shot-stopping David de Gea would have been widely regarded as one of the best in the world and rightly so.
"He won the Golden Glove last year in the Premier League. It’s weird isn’t it? The keeper that wins the Golden Glove is surplus to requirements at the end of the season. Never ever would we have seen that but the style of football in today’s game dictated that because you’re asking a lot more of a goalkeeper nowadays. It was normally ‘can he keep the ball out of the net?’ and ‘can he come for crosses?’.
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"But now that would be second, third, maybe fourth stage of requirements for a goalkeeper. A lot of it now is ‘can they be a player that’s attached to the team?’. Keepers in years gone by have been very detached from the 10 outfield players but now the goalkeeper’s very much an outfield player. And Onana fits the bill perfectly.
Rio Ferdinand has opened up on Manchester United's transfer business (C1 MEDIA)
Andre Onana has arrived to replace David de Gea (Getty Images)"His style of play will enable Erik ten Hag to implement the way he wants his team to play. I think he was probably restricted a bit with David de Gea because his traits as a footballing goalkeeper are not as strong as someone like Onana’s."
After a successful six years in the Netherlands, where he won three league titles, the shot-stopper signed for Inter in 2022. During his solitary season in Italy, Onana helped Inter reach the Champions League final and win the Coppa Italia.
Asked whether he'll take time to adapt to the Premier League, Ferdinand added: "No I don’t think so. I think especially with (Lisandro) Martinez he knows as that’s the game that he’s played.
"Luke Shaw is very comfortable, Raphael Varane is very comfortable taking the ball, (Diogo) Dalot is very comfortable. Aaron Wan-Bissaka probably not as much but he seems to be improving at a good rate.
"But I don’t think it’s just the back four I think it’s the whole team. We saw them play against Dortmund the other day and he hit a 60-yard ball into Rashford’s feet, didn’t break stride. So he can play over various distances.
"But I think the most important factor for how Erik ten Hag wants to play is that this goalkeeper is very much attached to the outfield players as a footballing player."
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