Andre Onana arrived at Manchester United in the summer full of enthusiasm and ambition, following his £47million move from Inter Milan.
The Cameroon goalkeeper joined up with his new United team-mates in New Jersey, on the first leg of their US pre-season tour, and immediately formed a bond with his new colleagues, in particular the Spanish-speaking members of the squad. Within a few weeks, however, that desire and conviction had been stripped away, a series of high-profile mistakes for United leaving the supremely-confident keeper with little confidence.
Onana never showed insecurity at Inter or Ajax, and it was the first time in his career the 27-year-old had lost one of his greatest values – self-confidence and supreme belief in his game. After costly mistakes against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, both of which led to defeats for United in their opening Champions League group games, Onana was struggling – on and off the pitch.
On the pitch, he lacked his usual assurance, while off it, he was trying to help his young family adapt to new surroundings for the third time in 12 months, after spells in Amsterdam with Ajax, Milan with Inter and now Manchester, with United.
The turning point for Onana came in added time against Copenhagen in United's third group stage game at Old Trafford, when the Danish side were awarded a penalty. With Erik ten Hag's side leading 1-0, the pressure was on Onana to save the 97th-minute spot-kick and secure their first win of the qualification campaign.
Given Onana's recent form, even accounting for some impressive saves among the glaring gaffes, few United fans expected their keeper to keep out the spot-kick. But Onana produced a superb save to his left and was immediately mobbed by his jubilant team-mates, for single-handedly securing a vital win for United.
In the days that followed that save, Onana was a different person around United's Carrington training ground – the scowl replaced by a smile, uncertainty giving way to belief once again.
Those who see him on a daily basis reported how his usual ebullience returned, the penalty save and subsequent acclaim from his team-mates, manager and coaching staff – not to mention the United fans he encountered out and about - serving to jolt him from his previous despondency.
United may have been humbled 3-0 by local rivals Manchester City in their next game, also at Old Trafford, but Onana was arguably the only one of Ten Hag's side to emerge from the humiliation with any credit.
Although he conceded three goals, he kept the scoreline down with some key saves, notably just before half-time, somehow keeping out a Haaland header from point-blank range, having earlier tipped away a goal-bound free-kick from Julian Alvarez.
Haaland would atone four minutes after the break, heading into an open net after United's defence had been pulled out of position by a majestic move from City. But Onana was able to deny Haaland another City hat-trick with another last-ditch save, before Phil Foden made it 3-0.
In a game when none of United's outfield players merited a mark of more than five out of 10, Onana was worthy of an eight, the keeper not individually culpable for any of the goals his side conceded.
United made a meek exit from the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 loss to Newcastle, and suffered a potentially devastating 4-3 defeat at Copenhagen, which could spell the end of their Champions League campaign this season. But Onana has now kept back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League, while his save percentage of 76.7 is the third-best in the top-flight.
After a shaky start, Onana is beginning to vindicate Ten Hag's decision to recruit him, particularly with his improved distribution with his feet - one of the key reasons he was signed - and a measure of his new-found confidence.