Onana insists Maignan helped him work his way into the No1 position while with Inter Milan.
“He’s a very good goalkeeper and a very good person, someone I appreciate a lot,” Onana told Carre.
“We’ve enjoyed playing against each other several times, in Italy, in the Champions League. I’d heard about him, he’d heard about me, and I’d always say to myself: ‘Okay, there’s some serious competition’.
“We have to go out there and take each other out, because we forget everything else on the pitch. If he has a good kicking game, I have to show that I am better. If he makes a good save, I have to show that I am better.”
Onana continued: “The best matches were when I arrived at Inter. Mike Maignan was the guardian for our rivals. He won the Scudetto, he was the champion of Italy, the best goalkeeper in Italy. Me, I arrived at Inter and Simone Inzaghi said: ‘Samir Handanovic will be my goalkeeper’.
“I arrived and I already felt conflicted, s***. I arrived as a number two.”
Onana then highlighted the one Milan derby which changed his career with the Nerazzurri.
“Mike, indirectly, he made me a starter. We played the derby, Milan-Inter, and I’m on the bench. From the start of the season we didn’t win enough, it was a bit difficult. Simone Inzaghi wasn’t happy, it was a bit negative, and then we played against Milan. We lost 3-2, and Samir Handanovic didn’t play a brilliant game, but Mike Maignan was huge, and my teammates were already starting to push: ‘We have to let him play’, so it was this match.
“We wanted to see who was best, who is the King of Milan. And from there, I started to play in the Champions League. I played against Bayern, it went well, I played against Barcelona.”