Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has been called up for the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon.
Andre Onana has had a mixed start to life at Manchester United after being brought into the club by Erik ten Hag following David De Gea’s contract expiry in the summer.
Signing from Inter Milan for just £43 million in the summer, there was palpable excitement for the 27-year-old to replace the Spaniard, who had struggled in his final months at the club.
Mistakes in the Champions League, however, have knocked the goalkeeper’s confidence but in the Premier League, the former Ajax goalkeeper has looked the part for the Red Devils. He made a crucial save to deny Aston Villa from scoring a third on Tuesday night, 30 seconds after United got a goal back.
Onana called up
Despite the goalkeeper getting back to his best in England’s top division it now looks like the 27-year-old could miss up to a month of games as he has been called up for the Cameroon squad.
There had been murmurs earlier in the season that Onana was unsure about going away on international duty due to the falling out that the Cameroon international had with his national team boss Rigobert Song.
However, they have patched up their differences and this has allowed Onana to be called up into the first team, which will be an unwelcome blow for Erik ten Hag.
Losing his number-one goalkeeper, particularly after the injury problems he has had to face this season, will be another challenge for the Dutchman.
Games Onana will miss
Onana will miss the opening round of the FA Cup away at Wigan, then the Premier League match at home to Tottenham, and possibly a further round of the FA Cup depending on whether United get through.
He could then miss the Premier League game away to Wolves, depending on Cameroon’s progress in the AFCON.
Bayindir’s chance
He’s been waiting since he completed his summer move to Old Trafford from Fenerbahce, but Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir will now get his chance to prove he can be good enough to start games for the Red Devils.
He has yet to play a competitive minute for the Red Devils but barring any unforeseen circumstances, the 25-year-old will be the number one for a month at least.
Bayindir has reportedly been impressing in training and Ten Hag simply has to give him a chance in the first team otherwise, the question will be why on earth did the Red Devils sign him.
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