Man Utd star not going to AFCON after shock snub sees him dropped by national team
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim made a controversial transfer decision in the summer window which has seemingly paid off.
Man United have made some controversial transfer choices in recent years, both with signing players and selling players. Ruben Amorim had somewhat of a bomb squad in the summer, with several names that he wanted to offload, and he managed it apart from one, Tyrell Malacia.
Marcus Rashford left to join Barcelona, Alejandro Garnacho joined Chelsea, and Antony moved back to Real Betis after his successful loan move last season. Another position of turmoil was the goalkeeper spot, as Andre Onana was forced out of the door in favour of Senne Lammens.
Lammens has had a great start to life at Old Trafford, and so it is looking like a good decision. Onana was loaned out to the Turkish side Trabzonspor, where he has been starting regularly and performing well.
Onana dropped from Cameroon squad
However, Amorim’s decision to offload Onana has been validated in recent days as the 29-year-old has shockingly been left out of the Cameroon national team squad ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations starting later this month.
Onana has been the long-term starter for Cameroon and has over 50 appearances for his national team. But, in a surprising turn of events, Onana has been left out of Cameroon’s squad, which contains four other keepers who were all selected ahead of the Man United loanee.
It marks potentially the end of Onana’s national team career, as it looks as though he won’t be able to recover his job, likely due to his declining reputation following the breakdown of his spot at Manchester United. Amorim’s decision to let him go looks even better now, as Onana can’t even get into a team where he has been the reliable long-term starter.
What will happen to Onana in the summer?
The issue that Amorim has is that the goalkeeper is still contracted to Man United, and he will return to Old Trafford in June when his loan move at Trabzonspor expires. The Red Devils would hope that the Turkish club would want to sign him permanently, or his performances generate interest from elsewhere.
However, he has been decent, but not spectacular, for Trabzonspor, so the interest in him could be limited. Furthermore, he is on a wage of around £120,000 per week, meaning a lot of clubs won’t be able to afford his wage bill at United.
Another loan move would be a short-term solution, but it only kicks the can down the road, and so United could be tempted to sell him for very cheaply. The alternative option is that they release him, but seeing as his current contract runs until June 2028 at Man United, that would arguably be the most expensive option to choose.
So far during his loan move, Onana has made 10 appearances, conceding 11 goals, and managing to keep just three clean sheets.