Andre Onana has faced his fair share of criticism from all quarters this season, however the Cameroonian recently showed his charitable side by helping out with the United Foundation.
Onana has had a torrid start to his career in Manchester.
The goalkeeper has conceded 14 goals in the Champions League and 17 in the league. The Old Trafford side have also already racked up ten losses for the season in all competitions. This was brutally seen by the player’s shambolic keeping performance versus Galatasaray when he seemingly gifted Hakim Ziyech two free kick goals.
In fact, The Peoples Person recently reported that no keeper has made more mistakes in the Champions League since 2018, and the club still have at least one more game to play in this year’s edition.
However, if we go back less than a year, the keeper was one of the most highly rated players in the world. After a trophy-laden career in the Netherlands for Ajax, he won the Supercoppa Italiana against rivals AC Milan, and also went on to win the Coppa Italia in the 2022/23 season.
The keeper was also a vital component of the Inter side that pushed Manchester City all the way in the Champions League final, narrowly losing 1-0 to a Rodri goal.
Consequently, the Cameroon international was hand-picked by Erik ten Hag to take over the gloves from the departing David de Gea in the summer. The club paid a huge £43.9m fee to secure his services. So far though, it is safe to say that this has not been seen as money well spent.
Nonetheless, Onana has been kind enough to get involved in the charitable side of the club. According to The Daily Mail, the former Ajax keeper “braved the elements for two hours between 5-7pm on Monday night, surprising local kids when he visited one of the Manchester United Foundation’s community projects, Street Reds”.
Despite being a day off for the players, Onana spent time with 30 children who all live less than a mile from the Old Trafford stadium. The goalkeeper was witnessed encouraging the kids and even gave a special pair of his gloves to one of the children in attendance.
It was reported here yesterday that the Manchester United Foundation has also launched a “warm hub” initiative to give local people a place to go chat and be somewhere warm during the winter months and amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Onana himself has also been heavily involved in charity work during his career. The Cameroonian owns his own organisation called the Andre Onana Foundation. The organisation was created in 2016 and is involved in many projects in Cameroon.
The United number 24 states on his own website that, “I know first-hand what many children in my country are suffering. Inside I feel I must help them to have a better future”.
While Onana may have had somewhat of a nightmarish start to his Manchester United career, and has rightly taken flak for it, the player must also be praised for his charitable work with the club and indeed, for his own foundation.