Rio Ferdinand insists Andre Onana will UNLEASH Erik ten Hag's Manchester United and hails him as the 'perfect' goalkeeper

Andre Onana is the ‘perfect’ goalkeeper for Erik ten Hag to finally release the shackles and unleash his style of play on Manchester United, believes Rio Ferdinand.

David de Gea was shown the door after a season in which he won the Premier League’s Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets and Onana arrived from Inter Milan in a deal worth £47million.

While Ferdinand is convinced De Gea remains ‘one of the best in the world’ as a shot-stopper, he is quick to accept that Ten Hag was ‘restricted’ with the Spaniard between the sticks stylistically, something that is not an issue with the risk-taking Onana starting attacks from his goal-line.

‘It’s weird isn’t it? The keeper that wins the Golden Glove is surplus to requirements at the end of the season,’ TNT Sports pundit Ferdinand said.

‘Never ever would we have seen that but the style of football in today’s game dictated that because you’re asking a lot more of a goalkeeper nowadays. It was normally “can he keep the ball out of the net?" and “can he come for crosses?”.

'But now that would be second, third, maybe fourth stage of requirements for a goalkeeper. A lot of it now is “can they be a player that’s attached to the team?”.’

He added: ‘Keepers in years gone by have been very detached from the 10 outfield players but now the goalkeeper is very much an outfield player and Onana fits the bill perfectly.

‘His style of play will enable Erik ten Hag to implement the way he wants his team to play.

‘I think he was probably restricted a bit with David de Gea because his traits as a footballing goalkeeper are not as strong as someone like Onana.’

That does not mean Onana’s style does not bring with it inherent risk - as United’s fans witnessed first hand last weekend in the