Two years ago, Erik ten Hag faced the problem of keeping or selling David De Gea. In the end, the Dutch coach liquidated De Gea and brought him to Andre Onana. Two years later, at present, it is Ruben Amorim's turn to face the same thing, thinking about whether to sell Onana this summer to buy a new goalkeeper or not.
Currently, there is information that Andre Onana will return to Man United's goal in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Lyon. This can only be verified when the two teams officially announce their starting lineups. If Onana still does not play like the match against Newcastle last weekend, the future of the Cameroonian goalkeeper will continue to be discussed.
According to The Athletic, up to now, adding a goalkeeper is not yet in the plan of Man United's leadership. The striker and full-back positions are still a priority. However, declining confidence in Onana could see the club rotate their transfer plan to bring in a more established goalkeeper.
Mistakes are inevitable for goalkeepers, but at Onana, the rate of mistakes is too high. According to Opta, after the draw with Lyon in the first leg of the quarter-finals, the Cameroonian goalkeeper had a direct foul rate of nearly 10%. This is a huge number that makes any team feel insecure, not just Man United.
In addition, Onana's instability is the most worrying thing. He may be as surprised as the match against Crystal Palace but also extremely silly as the performance against Lyon. With half of the team's strength unbelievable, Ruben Amorim is playing a dangerous bet.
Man United has a very clear rule that players and coaching staff will receive a 25% salary reduction if they do not participate in the Champions League. Andre Onana complained about this to former sporting director Dan Ashworth. However, the 29-year-old star himself is a very bad player in the 2023-2024 Champions League campaign. Onana fell asleep in the match against Bayern and made very silly mistakes in the match against Galatasaray.
After that Champions League campaign, many rumors appeared about Onana negotiating with teams in Saudi Arabia. The current Saudi Pro League is considered a paradise for stars who want to leave the Premier League. There, they have a high salary and don't play too hard. It is not ruled out that this summer, Onana will send a signal to Saudi Arabia.
However, selling Onana was not easy because when buying him from Inter Milan, Man United had many conditions. The transfer fee for this deal is £43.8 million. This amount will be deducted gradually over 5 years, equal to the contract term of the Cameroonian star. Therefore, Onana's paper value is still £26.3 million. With their current form, it is quite difficult to find a side willing to pay more than £26.3m to buy Onana.
In addition, Man United will have to pay the final fee to Inter this summer after deciding to divide it into 3 installments. It was Sir Jim who revealed this to the media with a very discouraged face about the way his former leadership team worked.
As for Ruben Amorim, the Portuguese coach is still open to all options. Whether or not to keep Onana may not be a priority for this strategist in the context of the Man United team still in a mess. There are too many urgent problems that Amorim needs to solve first before touching Onana's position.
Things could have eased for Amorim if Onana had contributed greatly to Man United's Europa League title. If he still makes a silly mistake like the match against Lyon last week, the future of this goalkeeper is something everyone can predict.
