Andre Onana’s turnaround in form could stop him joining goalkeeper merry-go-round

It is expected to be a hectic market for Premier League goalkeepers in the summer, although André Onana is trying his very best to avoid being one of those moving clubs. After his high-profile errors at the start of the campaign, he could mark a stunning turnaround in form with the Golden Gloves award.

His future will ultimately be tied to the fate of Erik ten Hag, who stood by the No 1 he had at Ajax even when his mistakes were costing Manchester United points. Onana’s passes from the back-line are tailored for Ten Hag’s style and a new manager would have to assess whether he has the right man between the posts.

But he has certainly shown his best side since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations having been dropped by Cameroon with a zero per cent shot-save percentage in the tournament. This has been helped by United’s worrying pattern of allowing opponents to shoot, with Everton firing off 23 in their defeat at the weekend.

Onana has been kept busy since Afcon, with United’s opponents having an average of 20.65 shots per game in the eight matches after his return, yet only Arsenal’s David Raya has more clean sheets than him this season with nine shut-outs.

After his eighth clean sheet of the season at the weekend, Onana talked about challenging for the Champions League places and trying to win “big things” at United, so he has his sights on staying for a long period.

“You will see much more, trust me,” he said. “Hopefully in the coming years we’ll fight for big things. That means trying to finish in the top four this season, which is very important for us to be in the Champions League. We’ll fight for everything.”

Onana: ‘The clean sheets mean we are good at defending’

Even without Onana in the market this summer, it will be a window where high-profile goalkeepers will be the subject of interest. Aaron Ramsdale has lost his place to Raya and clubs could offer him regular football to guarantee his England place. Caoimhin Kelleher has been Jürgen Klopp’s trusted No 2 but is bound to have interest after his Carabao Cup heroics.

At Crystal Palace, there has been a fight for the No 1 jersey between two England goalkeepers in Dean Henderson and Sam Johnstone, while Burnley’s James Trafford, rated highly at St George’s Park, could be relegated. Even Jordan Pickford could go down with Everton and England’s No 1 being in the Championship seems unthinkable.

On top of that, there is value in the foreign market, with goalkeepers such as Belgium international Koen Casteels or Australia’s Mat Ryan on free transfers, which will be appealing to clubs as they look to stay within the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability boundaries. Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga will be available on loan as well.

Ten Hag’s faith in Onana has been justified in the past month, although he never seems far away from a mistake. Against Everton, he badly misjudged one back-pass to concede a corner, but it could have been much worse. On the other hand, he showed bravery at the feet of Ben Godfrey in the opening minutes.

“The clean sheets mean we are good at defending. My defenders, midfielders and strikers are sacrificing for the team and that is what we work for. So I’m very happy for these numbers,” Onana said.

“Every game at the moment is like a final. We are solid defensively and we had to be brave against a very good opponent, especially in the first half we had to build up from the back and that’s what we did right before the goal. Now we get ready for the coming games.”