Ajax head coach Erik Ten Hag has no doubts about the quality of Inter-bound goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Speaking to Dutch broadcaster ESPN following his team’s 2-1 win over Sparta Rotterdam, the coach defended Onana over criticisms regarding his recent form, and reaffirmed that the Cameroonian is the clear first-choice in goal for the Dutch champions.
Onana will leave Ajax at the end of the season when his current contract expires, and he is all set for a move to Inter where he has been identified as the long-term successor to Samir Handanovic.
However, until the end of the season the 25-year-old remains an Ajax player, and he has been finding his feet in goal for the Dutch side since returning from a doping ban last November.
Onana has had some setbacks since his return, but for Ten Hag there remains no doubt that he is a top-quality player in his position and still has an important role to play at Ajax until the end of the current campaign.
“Obviously he’s not yet back at his level from before the suspension,” he said, “but that can’t be expected from him.”
“He has to work hard to get there again and I’m convinced that he’ll succeed,” he went on. “We’ve all seen that he is a masterful goalkeeper.”
And when asked whether any of the other options in the position at Ajax are ahead of Onana now, Ten Hag said that “That’s not the case now. Andre is our undisputed number one.”
