Club replaced Manchester United man with ‘extraordinary’ player for £42m less

Add as preferred source on Google

Inter Milan replaced Andre Onana with an ‘extraordinary’ goalkeeper when the £47 million Cameroon international moved to Premier League giants Manchester United during the summer transfer window.

He might lack Andre Onana’s trademark, quarterback-style diagonals but Yann Sommer certainly makes up for that with reflexes that would not look out of place in some sort of Shaolin Soccer reboot.

A classic, almost old-school shot-stopper, Sommer has certainly done his fair share of that since joining Inter Milan from Bayern Munich for a bargain £5 million over the summer. The experienced Swiss international kept the Nerazzuri top of the table this weekend too, Sommer giving his ‘penalty killer’ reputation a further boost when he kept out Fiorentina’s Nicolas Gonzalez from 12 yards during a hard-fought 1-0 win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Inter Milan sold Andre Onana to Manchester United

“(Sommer is) extraordinary. He was very good at remaining still and intuiting (where the spot-kick would go),” Borja Valero, who represented both Inter and Fiorentina in Italy’s top flight, tells DAZN.

“I would underline Sommer’s skill in general. It wasn’t easy to replace Onana, but he is a true leader. And, when you feel the trust from the goalkeeper, everything is easier.”

With Sommer between the sticks, Inter have conceded only ten goals in 21 league games this season. Onana, in contrast, has been beaten 19 more times in the same number of fixtures, David de Gea’s Old Trafford successor coming in for plenty of criticism after letting in a number of shots not unfairly described as ‘save-able’.

Difficult start at Old Trafford

“Yeah (I am surprised with Onana’s performances), because he performed well in the Champions League. To be honest, I’m surprised because of his quality,” Heurelho Gomes, who spent 12 years in England with Tottenham Hotspur and Watford, told talkSPORT earlier this month. 

“To come to England as a goalkeeper is not easy. It is a different thing

“He is good enough (for Man United). But he needs to perform the way he was performing at Inter Milan.”

Altay Bayindir, on his long-awaited Red Devils debut, did his hopes of more regular action no harm against Newport County in the FA Cup, solid and stable in Onana’s AFCON absence.