Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana will be returning to face his old club Barcelona at the Camp Nou tomorrow, and his path back has not been a linear one by any means.
This is highlighted in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, who highlight the journey of the Cameroonian to the point where he will be in goal against a club who he represented for many years.
Onana had been in Barcelona’s academy for a number of seasons after joining the club in 2010, but never made a senior appearance for the Blaugrans.
Rather, the Cameroonian moved to Ajax, where he became a youth team regular before taking his first steps into senior football.
Onana established himself as a top young keeper in European football with the Dutch giants, before a very unfortunately timed doping ban halted his momentum.
Coming back after a full year away from the game was not easy for the young goalkeeper, but he still had an open space ahead of him in which to prove himself again and get his career back on track.
The 26-year-old decided to join Inter on a free transfer this summer, where he has continued to move forward step by step.
Onana was not first-choice in goal for the Nerazzurri at the start of the campaign, but he is expected to start in goal against his former team tomorrow.
The Cameroonian had already done so once, keeping a clean sheet against them in last week’s 1-0 win at the San Siro.
A player who had, in the earliest stages of his career, trained alongside Barcelona legend Xavi when he was a player, now faces the Spaniard who is current Blaugranas coach.
Onana has had a winding path with its share of obstacles already despite being only 26 years of age, and it has passed through Barcelona to Inter, now taking him back in a Nerazzurri shirt where he’ll hope to repeat what he did in the reverse fixture.
