Manchester United are assembling a young team under Ineos, now spearheaded by a young manager too, in Ruben Amorim.
While that lends to growing pains as players develop, if that development is handled correctly, the fruits at the end of the road all make the effort worth it.
In Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Hojlund, and Leny Yoro, just to name a few, United have some of the world’s brightest young talents.
However, it’s another name entirely who Edwin van der Sar thinks will become one of the best in the world in the coming years.
Becoming the best is as much about character and mentality as it is about talent and Edwin van der Sar is a prime example of the same.
He defied his critics who questioned his age, becoming the stalwart between the sticks to bring home Sir Alex Ferguson’s second Champions League title at Old Trafford.
He has since leveraged his playing career into a very successful role at Ajax as the CEO where he flourished as well so when Van der Sar speaks, you listen.
The Dutchman has made a prediction about United ace Andre Onana, who he thinks is on his way to becoming one of the best in the world in the coming years due to one trait.
Van der Sar worked with Onana at Ajax and he saw his initial game coming together.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel, he said: “I trained a few times with him and I saw the talent, the strength, the reaction saves.
He needed experience and needed to make mistakes and of course, he made a few at Ajax and also made a few at United but I think that develops you as a person and as a goalkeeper.
“He’s a very strong character and I think that will help him become one of the very best goalkeepers in the coming years.”
Onana had a nightmare start at United as he was chipped from the halfway line on his debut for the club in pre-season last year.
Since then, United finished at their worst-ever position in the Premier League, the defenders ahead of him kept changing, the coach flip-flopped between tactical systems and the staff overhaul never ended.
Amidst all this, the Cameroonian has kept plugging along, trying to improve upon his errors and then eliminating them completely.
Now, he has become the most dependable player in the Man Utd squad, the kind a manager puts in his XI and forgets about, safe in the knowledge that they will do their job.
After early doubts, he has emerged as one of United’s smartest signings since goalkeeper is the spot a team needs to get right before anything else.
He leads the league in clean sheets at the time of writing for a team that is 13th in the league. An argument can be made that he’s already among the best in the world in terms of pure individual form.
Now the team just needs to be successful to strengthen his case on the world stage. He’ll hope Ruben Amorim can bring that.
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