Man Utd have ‘already chosen’ a replacement for Andre Onana as they seek to replace the Red Devils goalkeeper in the summer, according to reports.
The Red Devils have been in terrible form this season with Man Utd winning five, drawing four and losing six of their first 15 Premier League matches.
Their 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday saw them drop down to 13th in the Premier League table with new head coach Ruben Amorim taking just four points from his opening four league games in charge.
Onana, who has been so reliable for Man Utd this season, dropped a clanger for Nottingham Forest’s second goal of the game from Morgan Gibbs-White.
The Cameroonian goalkeeper failed to keep out a long-range shot that went straight down the middle of his goal with Onana receiving lots of criticism for the howler.
And reports in Spain are now claiming that Onana ‘could leave’ Man Utd and ‘end up’ in Saudi Arabia with the stopper ‘generating doubts among fans and experts due to his irregularity at key moments’.
It is claimed that Saudi Arabian clubs ‘could try to secure his services during the next summer transfer market’ and his occasional mistake has ‘cast doubt on whether he is the ideal option to defend the Red Devils goal’.
And now Man Utd ‘seems to have already chosen a replacement’ in the form of AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan with the French international ’emerging as the main candidate to take over the starting role at Old Trafford.’
The Milan goalkeeper ‘could be living out his last months at the Italian team’ as his contract expires in the summer of 2026 and the Serie A giants ‘face a major dilemma’.
The report adds: ‘Although they do not want to part with Maignan, the prospect of receiving a significant transfer fee could be tempting, especially if United are willing to make a significant offer.’
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Jamie Redknapp criticised Onana’s mistake for Gibbs-White’s goal against Man Utd over the weekend, calling it “fundamentally really bad goalkeeping”.
Redknapp said on Sky Sports: “You can’t defend him there. He’s falling backwards, his balance is wrong, he’s got his weight on his heels.
“I never played in goal, I didn’t even do it in training. But that is fundamentally really bad goalkeeping. You can talk about tactical tweaks all you like, but that goal changed everything. You’re on the back foot.”
Fellow pundit Phil Jones added: “He will be disappointed with that. It will be a tough watch. It’s one of the knuckleball ones, but he should be saving it.
“He’s made a mistake, but he has been one of the better goalkeepers this season.”
But Man Utd head coach Amorim was more relaxed about the mistake from Onana and the process the Red Devils are currently undergoing.
Amorim told reporters: “He (Onana) saved us a lot of times so we have to find a way to turn it around and score two goals to help our keeper for the way he, for example, saved us at Ipswich.
“We already knew it would be a long journey but we want to win. It’s a massive job. We need to improve on a lot of things.
“I had this and worse at Sporting at the beginning. Manchester United is bigger because of the attention but the feeling for me is the same.
“It happens in a lot of squads, but you need to keep doing the same things and it will turn around.”