André Onana saluted Inter. The Cameroonian goalkeeper, now sold to Manchester United, said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport: “Inter is a feeling, that’s why it stays inside. I saw my team mates in Appiano and now I really want to start this new experience, exciting and with a coach like ten Hag who is a master for me. I’m going to a big league and a big club, which has a huge history just like Inter’s: I’ll start over from scratch and I’ll give everything every day to show new fans who I am. But a part of my heart is sad: leaving Inter means leaving a family, not a normal team. I understood that being at Inter is a way of being in the world, of living life.”
“The important thing is to be honest and always tell people the truth. I am a person who always wants new challenges. Playing in the Premier League and for a club like United is irresistible. All sides wanted this to happen, but what matters is that if I had stayed I would have been equally happy because I never had any problems at Inter. On the contrary, a magic was born in Milan that is almost difficult to explain, a spark with the environment. I know I’ll be able to travel the world, but it will be difficult to find fans like this and a curve like Inter’s. San Siro and the Nerazzurri people gave me unique emotions that I will never forget for the rest of my life. In some games we were one: I had the sensation of not playing 11, but 80,000. Being able to experience it from the inside was a privilege that football and life have given me. Maybe therehe most exciting week was the semi-finals of the Champions League, for what it represented for the city and the fans: there I really felt the stadium shake. It was also nice to celebrate the Coppa Italia with my team mates singing and dancing.”
“The Champions League final lost in Istanbul? I’m left with pride and sadness. You don’t know how much I would have loved to bring the cup to Milan, celebrate it with our people. We were close to touching it, we would have deserved it: We played Manchester City head-on, just missing details, but this is football. Personally I hope to win the Champions League with Manchester United, but I hope Inter will also play a final again and win it. All the fans deserve it, both those who came to Istanbul who made us play as if we were at home, and those who pushed and will continue to push from outside.”
“At Inter I knew I would go to a great club, with great players, but I found more. Even if the league didn’t go the way we wanted, the Champions League brought us together. They call her ‘crazy Inter’: maybe because I’m a bit crazy too, but it’s the most beautiful definition in the world. I have a very good relationship with everyone, I can name real friends like Calhanoglu, Cordaz, Lukaku and Dumfries. But I want to mention another one, Handanovic: his task was not easy, and instead with me he was always correct. His advice and teachings have made me better and I will keep them with me, they will help me in this new adventure in Manchester.”
“‘Thank you’ is the word I want to use: I say it to all the workers at Pinetina and at the club, the managers, the president, the coach, my teammates. But above all the fans: I felt that they really loved me. I played in Milan for a year, but I’ll be an Interista forever: now I’ll cheer in front of the TV. I wish Inter to win the Scudetto that we missed right away: I know how much everyone wants the second star, I hope the time has come to put it on their chest!”
“Those who leave Inter often want to come back? Who knows, life is unpredictable, maybe one day I’ll come back too… And if that ever happens, I’m sure people will hug me like now because they’ve gotten to know me. In the meantime, I I won’t stop singing that chorus that I like so much: ‘It’s for the people who only love you, for all those kilometers I’ve done with you, you have to win the Internazionale!'”.