‘Not even on their planet’ – Woeful Man Utd star cooked in brutal comparison to three club legends

Andre Onana has come in for stinging criticism on the back of another sub-par display for Manchester United, and one pundit believes he’s not in the same class as three icons from the Premier League era.

Onana, 27, cost an initial £43.8m when plucked from Inter Milan over the summer. Erik ten Hag sought a new stopper who’ll add a new dimension to his side while in possession. Onana is certainly an upgrade on David de Gea with the ball at feet, though a series of handling errors have marred his early stint at Old Trafford.

Onana got a hand to Mathias Jensen’s weakly-hit opener for Brentford on Saturday, though could not keep the Dane’s strike out.

An injury time brace from Scott McTominay spared Onana’s blushes, though the keeper has not escaped criticism from the BBC’s Garth Crooks.

Writing in his Team of the Week column – in which McTominay featured – Crooks took aim at Onana when claiming he’s making life difficult for all involved at Man Utd.

Furthermore, Crooks highlighted the fact Man Utd have generally had one of the best goalkeepers in world football between the sticks during the EPL era. Given their high calibre stoppers of the past, Onana’s poor form stands out more than it otherwise might have done.

Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea were all namechecked in the piece as players Onana simply isn’t in the same class of.

Onana struggling to live up to expectations

“It’s hard enough trying to win matches when your goalkeeper is in good form,” wrote Crooks. “But when he’s making errors almost on a weekly basis it makes life very difficult for all concerned.

“Especially when you’ve had Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea keeping goal for you during the past 20 years, it becomes very conspicuous when you have a goalkeeper who is not in their class.

“In fact, Andre Onana is not even on their planet. Since the arrival of the Manchester United keeper, he’s been either smashing into centre-forwards, letting the ball slip through his fingers or, as was the case against Brentford, beaten by a shot a schoolboy would have been expected to save.”

Schmeichel is widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League history. Van der Sar was named in the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions during his six-year stint with United. De Gea earned five selections and was also named Man Utd Players’ Player of the Year four times.

While it’s clearly too early to write Onana off as a flop, it cannot be argued the early signs have been far from promising.

READ MORE: Ten Hag plans major Man Utd January transfer splash for outstanding €50m-rated playmaker admired by Chelsea