Man United have a crucial summer transfer window ahead of them and offloading players who have been deemed surplus to requirements will be key.
Andre Onana pictured during the post-season tour of Malaysia along with his Manchester United teammates
Andre Onana pictured during the post-season tour of Malaysia along with his Manchester United teammates(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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Manchester United acted decisively last year when it was no longer justifiable to keep Andre Onana. The Cameroon international spent most of pre-season injured but when he returned to full fitness his place had been lost to Altay Bayindir. He was later given a chance to redeem himself in a clash with Grimsby Town.
The performance was so far short of the required standard he had to leave. A few days later, Senne Lammens joined to become the new first choice and by mid-September, Onana was shipped off to Trabzonspor for the remainder of the season.
With Onana gone, Lammens has stepped up and made the position his own. But over in Turkey, things have not gone to plan for United's loanee. While he started brightly, with one journalist telling MEN Sport he was 'outstanding', Onana's momentum has stuttered.
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The 29-year-old has conceded 31 goals in 21 appearances, keeping just four clean sheets in total - three of those clean sheets came in 2025. Trabzonspor head coach Fatih Tekke has admitted that while Onana has done well in some matches, there have also been occasions where he hasn't performed well enough.
Trabzonspor are unlikely to make Onana's move permanent this summer. "As the figure from Manchester United for the purchase of Andre Onana is in the range of €45-50m (£40-43m), our president has sincerely informed the community in line with Trabzonspor’s realities,” Trabzonspor vice president Zeyyat Kafkas told Gunebakıs.
"I don’t think this information affected Onana at all. Because Onana’s thinking is that if it’s not England, he wants to continue at a club in Europe. His family thinks the same way. The president also wanted to explain Trabzonspor’s reality. However, if the conditions change, the situation changes."
Onana finds himself at a crossroads this summer. The United he will likely return to will be vastly different to the one he left, yet his situation remains the same. Onana is not needed to warm the bench, even if Bayindir makes an exit.
And that is where the problem lies for United. They will want to sell Onana, but nobody will want to sign him for the price the Reds are claimed to be quoting. United spent £18.2m to sign Lammens in the summer. If a club is going to spend more than double that, they will want a better 'keeper than Onana.
United could stick to their guns and hope someone is willing to part with their cash, knowing they will likely be saddled with him come next season. Or they could lower their asking price and sell him, missing out on a large sum of money but getting his wages off the books in the process.
Too often United have been left with players they can't sell who are on big-money contracts. Onana has no future at United and the club would be wise to offload him. But they're not going to receive an offer of £43m.