Onana: I have good colleagues
Andre Onana has spoken of his excitement to work under a new coaching team this season at Manchester United, while bidding a fond farewell to a staff member that was key to his first year in Manchester.
The Cameroonian had a positive first season with the Reds, capped off perfectly when he lifted the FA Cup with the rest of the squad at Wembley, after a 2-1 victory over Manchester City.
Many of Onana's memorable moments will, of course, happen inside sold-out stadiums in front of thousands of adoring fans and millions watching on at home, but some of his most important work happens day in, day out on the training pitch.
Our keeper recognises the importance of this and is delighted with the new faces added to our coaching ranks.
Key among those new arrivals is Jelle ten Rouwelaar, who joined as a first-team goalkeeping coach having previously held the same role with Burnley, a position he had been in since 2022.
Assistant goalkeeping coach Craig Mawson, who was also brought in from the Clarets in 2019, remains in his role heading into the new season.
Asked for his thoughts on the changes, Onana said: "Fantastic. So we have a new goalkeeping coach, everything is different.
"Jelle is a fantastic coach, Craig as well, so we have a good team around us and my team-mates as well, we have a great relationship and the way we work is fantastic."
Ushering in new coaching staff often means waving goodbye to familiar faces, and in this case it's former goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis, who bid a fond farewell to the club after a more than two-decade association with the Reds.
He worked with the likes of Edwin van der Sar and David De Gea during his time with the club and was a key figure for Onana when he was adjusting to life in England.
"I want to thank Rich Hartis, who I worked with last season," Andre said. "We had a great relationship and he helped me a lot with my adaptation in this city, in this country, in this club, so I hope for the best for him and I wish him good luck."
Club bids farewell to Hartis
ArticleUnited thank goalkeeping coach as he relays his pride in representing the Reds over two spells.
United's man between the sticks doesn't just feed off his coaches, however. He has a strong appreciation for the guidance that comes from his peers in the squad, including veteran professionals like Tom Heaton.
"Tom is my guy, a very good guy," Onana said. "He's doing his best to help us how he can, Altay and me, because we came last season. It's fantastic to train with him, to be honest, and we have a very good combination of goalkeepers.
"We have good goalkeeper coaches and I have good colleagues, so it means the gift of God to be here and I'm happy to train with them."