The curse of Inter strikes again! This time, it is Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana who is the beneficiary.
The Cameroonian was expected to become a star at Old Trafford following his €51 million summer move – plus €4 million in bonuses – from Inter Milan.
The 27-year-old enjoyed a stellar Champions League season with the Nerazzurri last season, playing a key role in their run to the final.
He stopped more goals than anyone else in the tournament, including five in the round of 16, as Inter narrowly and unluckily lost 1-0 to Man City in the final in June. He was also considered the best goalkeeper in the world with the ball.
However, Onana had a disastrous start to his career at Man Utd. He conceded 18 goals in his first 10 matches for Manchester United, keeping just three clean sheets. He also made a series of costly errors, most notably in Champions League defeats to Galatasaray and Bayern Munich.
Onana is not the first player sold by Inter in recent years to have struggled with his new team.
What is the “curse of Inter”?
The ‘Curse of Inter’ is a fate that is said to have affected many Inter Milan players who have left the Nerazzurri in recent years.
The curse resulted in many of these stars performing poorly at their new clubs.
First in the series was Mauro Icardi, who joined PSG for €50 million in 2020. Icardi had been Inter’s star and was expected to score for fun in the PSG attack which included Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
However, Icardi never showed he had the level required to be PSG’s number 9 during three difficult seasons. In his last two seasons, he only scored seven and four league goals, respectively, and had many problems off the field. He transferred to Galatasaray in the summer of 2022, where he began scoring freely again.
The most glaring example of Inter’s curse is Romelu Lukaku after his transfer to Chelsea for 115 million euros in the summer of 2021.
