Andre Onana has spoken about the bond he formed with former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar during their time at Ajax.

Van der Sar is currently recovering from a brain haemorrhage he suffered in the summer. He left his role as CEO of the Dutch Giants shortly before that.

Between 2015 and 2022, Edwin and Andre worked for the Amsterdam club. Edwin used retired stopper Andre as a sounding board, and the two even trained together occasionally.

Onana recently spoke to the Champions League winner Edwin and expressed his gratitude for Edwin’s role in his career.

In a recent episode of TeamViewer Diaries, Onana said: “Of course I had a good relationship with him. By the way, I spoke with him when I heard the bad news of him, but he is getting well.

He had a great impact. I was with him in Ajax back in the days. We had a great, great time. We were training sometimes together and he advised me a lot.

He was happy when I joined Manchester United.

He advised me a lot during the game, after the game, especially if I was making mistakes!

He was coming through all the way to the dressing room or to the training session to speak with me and he helped me to build that personality, you know?

I will always be thankful to him.”

Van der Sar developed into a ‘sweeper-keeper’ under van Gaal and spent his peak years in Italy and England. The position has evolved over the past three decades and Onana represents a new breed of goalkeepers who are equally adept with their feet as they are with their hands.

Onana is comfortable with the sport’s evolution and demands on his position.

“To be honest, now football is so different,” Onana went on. “You know, I think the position has changed in the last 20 years.

Now the goalkeeper is like [having] another player more, you know? And when you look at the way most of the teams want to play, now they use the goalkeeper as a plus one.

I consider myself as a modern goalkeeper, so I’m not afraid to make mistakes.

I’m not afraid to take risks and I would take risks because the way I play is what brought me to Manchester United, one of the best clubs in the world, and I will not drop. I will never drop. I will only go forward. I can make mistakes and mistakes are a part of life.”