Manchester United are preparing themselves for a mass overhaul this summer in an attempt to bounce back from their worst Premier League campaign on record.
The Red Devils have experienced issues all over the pitch from Rasmus Hojlund’s 21-game goal drought to Andre Onana’s consistently problematic performances, and that’s not to mention the widespread injuries.
Now, United are looking for a replacement for Onana who’s lead the league for most mistakes made resulting in a goal being conceded.
In their search, United have turned their attention to one of their former goalkeepers, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
So, who is the Serbian goalkeeper, and why has he never played for United, despite previously being signed by The Red Devils?
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Manchester United renew interest in Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
Born in Spain on 20th February 1997, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s first recorded youth side came with a sight move across Europe to Grazer AK in Austria, where he and his brother, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic played between 2002 and 2006.
Whilst Vanja found his feet in between the sticks, his older brother was impressing outfield in centre-midfield, with the pair moving to Serbian side Vojvodina when Vanja was nine years old.
For the next eight years, Vanja worked his way up through the youth system, playing in the reserves until he made it to the first team in 2014.
However, that summer his older brother made a move to KRC Gent, which was nothing compared to the team who wanted him, Manchester United.
The Red Devils signed the 17-year-old for £1.5 million with the agreement that he’d remain on loan with Vojvodina for another season before moving to Old Trafford.
However, at the end of the next season, the goalkeeper failed to obtain a work permit to allow his move to the UK, with The Red Devils having to let him go.
Following this disappointment, Milinkovic-Savic joined Lechia Gdansk, going on to join Torino the following year.
Since joining the Italian side he’s had loan spells with SPAL, Ascoli and Standard Liege, all setting him up to become Torino’s first-choice goalkeeper.
However, not only is he Torino’s first-choice keeper, he’s also the top rated keeper in Serie A according to Sofascore, with a rating of 7.33, having David de Gea in second with 7.22.
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Vanja Milinkovic-Savic vs Andre Onana
With 11 clean sheets in 36 games, only conceding 39 goals all season, it’s easy to see why Milinkovic-Savic is being considered as an upgrade to Andre Onana, with the Cameroon international having just as many clean sheets, but having conceded 62 goals in 47 games.
Directly comparing the two, Milinkovic-Savic has let in 1.08 goals per game, compared to Onana’s 1.32 goals per game.
Whilst this doesn’t appear to be much of a difference, it has meant the difference for the club’s overall performances, with United sat in 15th place with 39 points whilst Torino sit in 11th with 44 points.
However it’s not just about the number of goals conceded, it’s the manner of the goals as well.
Onana has made some extremely questionable decisions with his positioning and parrying easily catchable balls, resulting in those goals conceded.
Looking at just the pair’s stats in the league, Milinkovic-Savic’s conceded 37 goals with 10 clean sheets in 34 games compared to Onana’s 43 goals conceded with nine clean sheets in 33 games.
However, it is worth noting that for both men, just over a third of their goals conceded have been scored by teams in the current top six of their respective leagues, with 38% for Milinkovic-Savic and 37% for Onana.
Whilst looking at the stats, Milinkovic-Savic doesn’t boast a massive upgrade from Onana, United clearly see potential there to being confidence between the sticks at Old Trafford.
