Liverpool star Alisson Becker has defended and insists he is a top-class goalkeeper, though says he needs to be ‘patient’ as he adapts to life at .
The 27-year-old, who swapped Inter Milan for Old Trafford in a £47.2million deal in the summer, has struggled to live up to that huge price tag and has committed a number of errors since moving to the .
Alisson made a similar move five-and-a-half years ago, trading Serie A side Roma for , and has now established himself as arguably the best goalkeeper in the division.
The Brazilian is convinced Onana will eventually settle in much the same way, though says he been hampered by United’s collective struggles as well as having the added burden of filling the enormous void left by David de Gea.
Asked for his thoughts on Onana, Alisson told : ‘A really good goalkeeper. The Champions League he played last season was amazing.’
Probed on why, then, the Cameroonian has struggled so much, Alisson continued: ‘I was lucky in that I was coming to a team that was with everything already going in a different way; that was building.
‘He needs to be patient, he needs to do that with everything that is going on in his life in the best way that he can.
‘I think he is someone who in this moment needs the support of everybody, so I think he will get there.
‘I went through something similar to what he is living; coming from an Italian club to England, to a big club, for a lot of money.
‘This is a lot of responsibility over your shoulders and he came here with the responsibility to be the replacement for De Gea, who maybe was not in the best shape of his career, but he was still delivering.
‘He delivered so many good things for Manchester United and so many appearances for Manchester United and [to replace that] is a big step in your career.
‘I think he is capable of this responsibility, but sometimes it takes longer with some than others.
‘You are changing your team, you are changing your league. They [United] are trying to adapt and discover themselves and that can affect you a lot.’
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