‘Puts the fear of god in me!’ - Andre Onana’s ball-playing antics at Man Utd make Gary Pallister nervous as questions are asked of letting David de Gea leave

The Red Devils made a point of refreshing their keeping department during the summer of 2023. Long-serving David de Gea was allowed to depart, with Cameroon international Onana prised away from Inter in a £47 million ($58m) deal to fill the vacant No.1 spot. Turkey international Altay Bayindir has also been acquired, with plenty of emphasis being placed on finding last lines of defence that are comfortable with their feet.

United were warned when signing Onana that “mistakes” would come as part of his package, and former Red Devils defender Pallister – speaking on behalf of 888sport – has told GOAL of the 27-year-old shot-stopper and why letting De Gea leave came as something of a surprise: “There was a lot of silence about what was going on there. David was a great servant. I would still put him in the top 10 goalkeepers in the world. The manager was looking for something a little bit different. Onana is a guy that’s super confident, very comfortable with the ball at his feet and playing out – which is a style that managers seem to want now. It puts the fear of god in me when I see it. That’s the way he plays the game, the way Erik wants to play the game and there is a big onus on keepers to be able to do that.”

Pressed on whether Onana has taken things too far in the ball-playing direction, with a few questions having already been asked of his ability to keep the ball out of the net, Pallister – who once played alongside the legendary Peter Schmeichel – added: “The ultimate thing is commanding your box and stopping the ball from going in your net. The penalty that wasn’t given in the opening game of the season had everybody talking about it. We have got to see him over a period of time before we make our decisions on whether he is top class. If you play for Inter, you aren’t a bad keeper. He’s made some good saves, he’s had a decent start and it’s a watching brief now.”

Among the other big-money signings to be made by United during the summer transfer window of 2023 was England international playmaker Mason Mount – who was snapped up from Chelsea for £60m ($74m). He has taken on the fabled No.7 jersey at Old Trafford once worn by the likes of George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Quizzed on whether he can follow in those illustrious footsteps, Pallister said of Mount: "We have seen plenty of Mason playing for Chelsea and know what kind of player he is. I don’t think the balance was right at the start of the season when he was playing in that three – the Wolves game, they were driving through the midfield and we didn’t really engage that and try to stop it. He’s played two games and then Erik’s left him out.

"It’s a tough place to go and playing in front of 76,000 people every week and having the spotlight on you for a lot of money. It’s a lot of expectation on him and at times it can be overwhelming. We’re trying to bed him down into the team and it’s maybe not a bad thing to take him out and take stock. He’s a talented player, he’s got goals, creativity and I think it’s about finding that right balance in midfield for him to play in."

Erik ten Hag has now made the United squad his own, and continues to make it clear who is in charge at Old Trafford, with Carabao Cup glory and a top-four finish last season getting him off to the best possible start in England. The challenge now is to build on those foundations, with Pallister saying of the bare minimum requirements for the Red Devils: "You look at Champions League every year. For a club the size of Manchester United to not get there is probably looked upon as failure. But it’s becoming more and more competitive, it’s not like it was 20 or 30 years ago when there was a top four. Manchester City have come to the party and dominated, Newcastle have come in there with all of their money.

"That playground that we used to play in when we were top boys has disappeared. You are always disappointed if United don’t make the top four due to the support and how big the club is. They are certainly in the top two biggest clubs in the world and the expectation is there to get into the Champions League, and rightly so."

United have not enjoyed the best of starts to the 2023-24 campaign, with a six-point return from four games seeing them occupy a standing in the bottom-half of the Premier League table at the first international break. They will be back in action on Saturday when playing host to Brighton, before then getting their latest Champions League campaign up and running away at Bayern Munich next Wednesday.