Manchester United have a “world-class” star in the making under Erik ten Hag, says Peter Schmeichel

Peter Schmeichel feels Manchester United have a “world-class” star in the making within Erik ten Hag’s current Old Trafford squad.

Last season, many of Manchester United‘s best players either missed large amounts of the season through injury or underperformed under Erik ten Hag.

Vital contributions from those such as Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, and Lisandro Martínez left the club finishing in eighth place in the Premier League and out of the Champions League before Christmas.

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However, one man who played almost every minute was new signing André Onana, although the goalkeeper himself struggled and made multiple mistakes, leading to criticism.

However, in a recent interview, former UNtied goalkeeper and club legend Peter Schmeichel has explained that Onana was also unlucky both because the defence in front of him was consistently changing and that the spotlight on his mistake against Bayern Munich was focused on more than if he was at another club.

“I just thought he was a bit unlucky for two reasons,” Schmeichel told GOAL in a recent interview. “First of all, not playing behind a consistent defence. That’s a problem as a goalkeeper. You can be the best goalkeeper in the world, but if your defence is not protecting you, you have a problem.

“Secondly, the goal he conceded in Munich was unlucky; if you do that for Inter or Ajax, it goes away within a week or two.

“If you do that for Man United, it stays, and you will be a goalkeeper who makes mistakes. That’s just the cruel reality of playing for Man United.”

Further, Schmeichel then commented that over the course of last season, he saw Onana improve and that if he has a quality defence in front of him, he can become a “world-class” goalkeeper at Old Trafford.

“I saw a lot of improvements with different things in his game over the season,” Schmeichel continued.

“What I particularly liked was he looked like he was enjoying it more and more, that’s the first step towards becoming the one that you want in goal.

“He needs help like any other goalkeeper in the world, he needs a defence in front of him. If he’s got that, I’m sure we’ll have a world-class, top-quality goalkeeper who will do well.”

United’s best defence is among the tightest in Europe, but they have failed to show this so far due to the number of injuries the club suffered last season.

With the signings of Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, and Noussair Mazraoui to add to Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martínez, and others, Onana has many high-quality defenders ahead of him.

Onana himself has previously explained that he feels he will have a much better season this campaign now that he has settled in at Old Trafford.

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