Man Utd told Andre Onana only looked good at Inter because he 'didn't have much to do' as Paul Ince insists £48m goalkeeper has struggled with 'pressure' since summer transfer

Onana has come under scrunity at United following his £48 million ($61m) move from Inter due to a number of costly errors for his side. Former midfielder Ince, who played for United and Inter during his career, believes that part of the problem is Onana having far more work to do at Old Trafford this season than he did last season when impressing for the Nerazzurri.

Ince told DAZN Bet: "This phase of his career will provide valuable experience for him. It's not just him, either, as the goalkeeper is only as good as the defence he has in front of him. That's why he looked so good at Inter and why he didn't have so much to do. Man United are conceding a lot of goals and a lot of shots like we saw last night. They're not protecting him enough, and there lies the problem. Peter Schmeichel had Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Roy Keane, and myself in front of him and it was hard for teams to get at us. Man United look all over the place and they're very open at times. That doesn't help Onana's performances whatsoever. It's a good learning curve for him and I think he'll get through it as he's a very good goalkeeper. He'll improve what he's doing, but I don't want him to completely change how he plays. Every player goes through bad times, and it's magnified even more due to him playing in goal."

The former United captain added: "People need to understand that the pressure at Man United is ten-fold. He started in OK form, but the pressure got to him after he made one or two mistakes – and we can see that in his form now. Some players take a few months to adjust, some take a year, and others never live up to the standards, pressure, and expectations of the fans. I think Onana has to get past that. The opposition fans always hound him when he's on the ball, but that's the pressure you have to deal with."

Onana remains United's No.1 for now despite his mistakes and still has the full backing of manager Erik ten Hag, who has described his stopper as "the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League". Yet United may have to make do without their goalkeeper soon. Onana is expected to be called up for AFCON duty with Cameroon, although there has been speculation he could snub the international team to protect his place in the first team.

Onana will continue in goal for the time being and has called on his team to improve after Sunday's goalless draw against Liverpool at Anfield. If Onana does leave United in January for the AFCON tournament, then Ten Hag will turn to summer signing Altay Bayındır between the sticks.