Man United play Real Madrid in a pre-season friєɴԀly in the early hours of Thursday and Andre Onana is set for his debut.
Andre Onana is making his Manchester United debut against Real Madrid because Erik ten Hag thinks ‘it’s the right time’.
David de Gea departed the club following the expiry of his contract at the єɴԀ of June and Erik ten Hag identified Onana, who he previously worked with at Ajax, as the prime target to replace the Spaniard.
Onana officially signed from Inter Milan for £47.2m last week, penning a five-year Ԁєɑł at Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old is now set to make his uncompetitive debut against Madrid on Houston in the early hours of Thursday morning and the friєɴԀly will be an opportunity for fɑɴȿ to get a glimpse of his ball-playing quality.
Onana will be protected by a back four of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw, which didn’t surprise anyone, but the inclusion of Kobbie Mainoo in the line-up felt significant.
Mainoo has impressed in pre-season games so far and he’s starting alongside Casemiro and Mason Mount against Madrid.
Ten Hag discussed the game with MUTV ahead of kick-off and said: “[We are] the two biggest clubs in the world, the biggest fan bases, so it’s great to compete with each other, also you get a good reference for the season.
“It will be a reference for the Champions League and we played Arsenal on a high level and now we have another big opponent. They play a complicated system, but we sometimes use it, so we’re looking forward to see how we can sort it out.
“I really hope we can make the next step. We were at a good level against Arsenal, but if you want to face Real Madrid, you have to be at an even higher level.”
He was asked about Onana and added: “He’s been with us for one week, he’s integrated and he knows how we want to play, but also, he’s learned about his teammates. He’s relaxed, he’s comfortable in the squad and he’s been with us 24 hours a day, so it’s the right time to start him.”
