When Inter Milan sold Andre Onana to Man Utd in the summer of 2023 and replaced him with a 34-year-old Yann Sommer the overwhelming consensus was that Inter had massively downgraded.
After all, Onana had been arguably the best goalkeeper in the Champions League that past season, keeping the most clean sheets in the competition as Inter reached the final. Furthermore, Onana earned a reputation as the best goalkeeper in the world with the ball at his feet – a key weapon for the modern goalkeeper.
Expectations for Inter fans weren’t very high but Sommer has proven everyone who doubted him wrong.
Sommer stars for Inter
He enjoyed a fantastic first season in Italy as Inter won the Scudetto and Italian Super Cup.
And this season, Sommer has played a pivotal role in Inter reaching a second Champions League final in three years.
Inter conceded just one goal in eight games in the league phase, with Sommer playing in seven of those matches.
And despite Inter starting to ship goals in the knockouts, Sommer has made decisive saves to take Simone Inzaghi’s men to Munich.
On Tuesday, Sommer was officially named man-of-the-match by UEFA after a series of stunning saves helped Inter beat Barcelona 4-3 after extra time (and 7-6 on aggregate) in perhaps the most epic Champions League semi-final – or tie – in history.
In normal time, with Inter leading 2-1, Sommer somehow stopped Eric Garcia from equalising in front of an open goal with cat-like reflexes.
And then in extra time, with Inter holding onto their 4-3 lead, Sommer produced a world class save to his right to flick a Lamine Yamal curler out of the top corner and around the post.
The now 36-year-old has become an understated hero for Inter – and he is now finally getting the plaudits he deserves.
Thierry Henry, speaking in the CBS studio, called Sommer one of the world’s most underrated goalkeepers of the last decade.
Sommer’s performances for Inter are a far cry from those of his predecessor Onana at Man Utd.
United paid €52.5m plus €5m in bonuses for Onana in the summer of 2023. To think that at the time, Inter were criticised for underselling the Cameroonian.
It now looks like one of the deals of the century as Onana has been an unmitigated disaster for the Red Devils in both his two seasons.
He has made one catastrophic error after another for a Man Utd team who are currently 15th in the Premier League, having finished eighth.
Onana could still win the Europa League this season but that will not change the fact that he will be remembered – as Nemanja Matic put it – as one of the worst goalkeepers in Man Utd’s history.
Sommer, meanwhile, could become an Inter legend if he lifts the Champions League trophy at the end of this month.
