Manchester United said they were ‘bringing one of the greatest rivalries in the Premier League to American soil for the first time’ when announcing their opening friendly of the USA tour against Arsenal a few months ago.
The tickets for the game on 22 July at MetLife Stadium were quickly snapped up for hundreds of dollars each, but the United fans among the 82,500 sell-out crowd are facing the possibility of watching their side without a first-choice goalkeeper.
Although Dean Henderson could start against Arsenal, Tom Heaton, Matej Kovar and Nathan Bishop are hardly household names in the States and those names won’t inspire excitement for the Yanks who’ll be in attendance.
Erik ten Hag’s priority is to prepare his squad for the new season, not entertain supporters on tour, but he certainly does care about having a new No.1 goalkeeper signed sooner rather than later following David de Gea’s departure.
United play Lyon in Edinburgh on July 19 and, just a few days later, Arsenal in New Jersey on July 22. It won’t be a good look to start the tour without a replacement for De Gea and it’s hoped talks for Andre Onana will progress in the next week.
It’s understood Inter Milan star Onana is the club’s priority goalkeeper target and he’ll ideally be signed in time to play Arsenal. The club knew De Gea was on his way out for some time and the whole situation was poorly handled.
The news that De Gea was increasingly likely to leave United broke in mid-June and although talks continued with the Spaniard beyond the expiration of his contract, a contingency plan should have been in place.
“Of course, goalkeeper is a key position, but I am happy with the players we have now,” Ten Hag told reporters in Oslo earlier this week before diplomatically insisting Henderson was an option next season if a new goalkeeper can’t be signed.
Asked how confident he was of having new signings before the flight to the US, Ten Hag added: “Confident? You never know in transfers, but we’re working on it. But in the meantime, we have to work on our way of playing to put progression in place.
“This is the moment in the season when you have time to train with your team, so I’m looking forward to Saturday and all the internationals coming in, and then you can really add sense to the squad, the team, and the way of playing.”
Ten Hag, who is always a succinct talker, was unlikely to give anything away regarding talks for Onana, but his opposite number Simone Inzaghi, manager of Inter Milan, was more open when asked about his goalkeeper.
“He’s an Inter player, tomorrow [Thursday] he’ll be among the players called up for pre-season. We know the transfer window is unpredictable and that all Italian clubs have to sell before they can buy,” Inzaghi said.
“We know there’s this risk [that he leaves] but at the same time, I’m calm about it all because the club and the owners have reassured me that this year we’ll have a competitive Inter.”
Onana duly reported for Inter Milan pre-season on Thursday and he signed autographs for fans who chanted his name, although it’s hoped his name chanted will instead be sung by American United fans in just a few weeks’ time.
The 27-year-old worked with Ten Hag at Ajax but his world-class distribution is what makes him such an appealing option. Onana delivered a passing masterclass in the Champions League final and it made life difficult for Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side were unable to win the ball in areas they usually would and Onana’s ability to funnel the ball into midfield from risky angles would make him the perfect replacement for De Gea, who did not align with that vision.
His arrival would be exciting and watching him make his uncompetitive debut against Arsenal would be a treat for Red Yanks.