The Champions League final would have made for painful viewing for those of a Manchester United persuasion, but Erik ten Hag would have had plenty to chew over when digesting the events of Istanbul.
Finding a way to stop Manchester City’s treble winners is top of his agenda for next season but the performance of Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana also caught the eye. It could have been his final game for the club.
Onana’s distribution in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium was exceptional, but that would have been no surprise to Ten Hag, who selected the Cameroon international for 145 games while they worked together at Ajax.
Only seven players have played more games for Ten Hag and although Onana’s time in Amsterdam ended a little acrimoniously, the relationship between the pair is said to have remained good.
ALSO READ: United summer transfer decision will be biggest test yet of recruitment changes
“He is a masterful goalkeeper,” was Ten Hag’s verdict last April, when Onana was seeking to rediscover his best form after a doping ban and had already confirmed a free transfer departure from Ajax.
He has found his level again in Milan but after 41 games in his first season at the club, Inter’s financial difficulties could force them into selling a key player or two. Onana has put himself in the shop window in the Champions League this season.
His distribution in the final was exceptional and Pep Guardiola was moved to comment on how he can make pressing Inter and closing them down difficult.
“When you have a goalkeeper like Onana who can read perfectly where everyone is to pass to, with Calhanoglu and Barella, then the strikers hold it up and move the ball around,” he said. “It is very, very difficult. It would be a tiny bit easier without this goalkeeper, but still very tough.”
At one point late in the game Onana was playing higher up the pitch than two of Inter’s defenders, more trusted was he to find the right pass to set up another late onslaught on the City goal.
That is quite a contrast with the current incumbent of the role of United goalkeeper. David de Gea has endured a difficult season and his issues with distribution have been clear for some time. To make matters worse his form in saving shots deteriorated as well at the end of the campaign and he is out of contract in just over two weeks.
There remains a possibility that he extends his stay, taking a pay cut to fight for his status as No. 1 at Old Trafford. But there is also a possibility that one or both parties decide now is the time to move on.
That would leave United with a hole to fill next season. Ten Hag has had to compromise when it comes to playing out from the back this season, with De Gea blundering at Brentford early in the season and there have been other occasions when his distribution has let him down, noticeably in a haphazard performance against Real Betis at Old Trafford and in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan against Sevilla.
Ten Hag knows what he's getting with Onana and he knows he will improve his team's ability to play out from the back considerably. At 27 he looks to be entering his prime as a goalkeeper.
United wouldn't be the only interested club this summer. There are reports Chelsea want him as well and the budget available to Ten Hag and John Murtough isn't substantial.
But a £50m fee for Onana could be offset by the sale of academy graduate Dean Henderson, who should fetch at least half of that. Onana would also be on less money than the £375,000-a-week De Gea has been taking home.
It may be that United sign the paperwork to keep De Gea at the club. That the Spaniard has another season as first-choice before trying to sign a challenger next summer.
But the question that should be asked is would there be anyone more suitable than Onana available next summer? An expensive goalkeeper might not have been top of United's to-do list this summer, but they should be adaptable to circumstances and if Onana is available, he could be the latest former Ajax player to join Ten Hag at Old Trafford.
NEXT UP:
