After Cameroon consented to the goalkeeper’s delayed release for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Andre Onana will fly to the competition directly following Manchester United’s game against Tottenham on Sunday week.
Cameroon are scheduled to play Guinea in Ivory Coast on Monday, January 15, the day following United’s encounter against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, meaning Onana may play twice in the space of 24 hours if selected by his country.
United had been in talks with the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) to postpone Onana’s release so that he could play in the FA Cup third round away to Wigan Athletic on Monday and the Premier League at home to Tottenham six days later.
Onana retired from international football after being kicked out of the World Cup in Qatar in November 2022 due to a disagreement with coach Rigobert Song and Fecafoot president Samuel Eto’o, a former Barcelona striker. United purchased Onana from Inter Milan for £47.2 million in July, not expecting to lose him to the AFCON six months later following a tenuous reconciliation between Cameroon and the goalkeeper.
The Cameroon federation is said to have been sympathetic to United’s situation, which played a role in it agreeing to Onana’s delayed release during amicable talks with the Manchester club, which Erik ten Hag, who met with incoming United minority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe for the first time yesterday, has praised.
Onana, for one, has been reluctant of traveling to the AFCON for fear of jeopardizing his already tumultuous debut season at Manchester United in England.
Despite Ten Hag’s staunch support for Onana despite a string of gaffes and underwhelming performances, the goalkeeper is apprehensive about his chances of regaining his starting spot after he returns from the tournament.
With the AFCON final scheduled for February 11, the same day United travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League, Onana may miss up to four games for United if they reach the FA Cup fourth round at the cost of Wigan. The remaining two league games Onana could miss are against Wolves and West Ham.