Andre Onana has made eight mistakes leading to goals in all competitions since his Man Utd debut at the start of the 2023-24 season – the most of any Premier League goalkeeper
Chief football news reporter
Among all the chaos around Manchester United’s season and the talk of summer transfer priorities, the goalkeeper situation had not been top of the list.
Yes, Andre Onana’s 47.5m transfer was one of those “inherited” deals namechecked by co-owner Sir Jim Ractliffe, as part of the 400m the club still owes on unpaid transfer fees.
And Ratcliffe did mention Onana by name as he talked about getting “the house in order” financially, and explaining why it will take time for the club “to move away from the past into a new place in the future”.
But when former United midfielder Nemanja Matic labelled Onana one of United’s “worst-ever goalkeepers” – and then the Cameroon international subsequently made two more errors in last week’s 2-2 draw in Lyon – yet another ‘crisis’ in United’s chaotic season emerged.
Amorim will be asked by media on Wednesday who will start in goal for their crucial Europa League quarter-final with Lyon, Onana or United’s latest scapegoat, number two Altay Bayindir.
Whether he chooses to answer or not is a different matter. But when the choice is made between the goalkeepers, it could shape what the future looks like for Amorim and his ailing team.
Leaving Onana out of the Premier League defeat at Newcastle was the easy bit.
In terms of the domestic situation, barring an unlikely late season surge into a Uefa Conference League spot, United’s campaign is done. Telling Onana to have the weekend off and clear his head was a decision with few negatives attached.
The same cannot be applied to the decision Amorim has to make on Thursday. No matter which keeper misses out, they have to be on the bench.
The goalkeeper overlooked will surely be looking for a new club this summer.
And it could yet turn out both will leave – meaning more money being paid out on replacements that the club can ill afford.
It is not an ideal situation and not one United chiefs were thinking about when Amorim arrived at the club from Sporting in November.
How on earth did we get here?
Man Utd goalkeeper conundrum a ‘huge problem’ – Murphy
The motivation for Matic’s attack has not been explained.
He was responding to relatively innocuous comments Onana made about Lyon in the build-up to the game, when he said he respected the French club but believed United were “way better”.
However, it is notable how strongly the former Serbia midfielder defended the man Onana replaced, David de Gea, when the Spaniard made his own series of mistakes in May 2019, saying, “He is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and will be for years to come.”
Was Matic using Onana as collateral damage to reinforce a point shared by many that United made a mistake and treated one of their best players of recent times badly when they opted not to renew De Gea’s contract in 2023 and sign the Cameroon international instead, for 47.2m from Inter Milan?
The situation was heightened when Onana, rather than remaining silent or at least waiting until after the game to respond, ignored cautionary advice and hit back, adding: “At least I’ve lifted trophies with the greatest club in the world. Some can’t say the same.”
Matic never won a trophy as a United player.
It was against that backdrop Onana made a catastrophic mistake for Lyon’s opening goal in the 2-2 draw, then erred for the injury-time equaliser, the negativity for that heightened massively by the first inexplicable blunder.
If that performance was an isolated one, it would have been bad enough.
But it is acknowledged even by those closest to the former Ajax and Inter Milan goalkeeper that Onana’s United career has been scarred by a series of big mistakes.
He has eight errors leading to goals in all competitions since he joined United – the most by any Premier League goalkeeper in that time.
A feeling Onana was being scrutinised in a way he hadn’t been previously in his career became evident in his first few weeks at United, when he was chipped from 50 yards in a pre-season friendly against Lens.
Onana had been following instructions to take up a starting position higher up the pitch when his team had the ball, only for Diogo Dalot to give it away under no pressure.
The reaction was intense and the keeper was lampooned in some parts of social media. Even though he wasn’t to blame, his performances became the subject of debate.
It put Onana on the back foot from the first moment.
The long wait for Bayindir
Bayindir meanwhile, waited patiently for his chance. And waited. And waited.
A 4.3m arrival from Fenerbahce in September 2023, Bayindir was a regular member of the Turkey squad.
Yet Erik ten Hag would not play him. The former United boss even persuaded Onana to delay his departure to the Cameroon squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in January 2024 long enough to allow him to play in an FA Cup tie at League One Wigan and Premier League draw with Tottenham.
Bayindir did eventually make his debut during Onana’s absence in the FA Cup fourth round at Newport, which United won 4-2 after throwing away a two-goal lead. It turned out to be Bayindir’s only appearance of the season. It was not much of a show of faith from Ten Hag.
Before the Newcastle game, Bayindir had played six times this season, all in cup competitions. He featured in the last two games of United’s Europa League first-phase campaign but was injured for the last-16 tie with Real Sociedad and back on the bench in Lyon.
Little wonder that the feeling had been growing from those close to him he would move on in the summer.
Newcastle offered a chance to change the narrative. But Bayindir’s kicking was shaky and he made a mistake for the home side’s fourth goal.
What was to be expected, countered Bayindir’s supporters, with the 27-year-old pitched into a much-changed team, with some players badly lacking in confidence.
Does ‘leader’ Onana still have Amorim’s faith?
Yet Onana, outwardly so boisterous and confident, could be forgiven for sharing the same uncertainties.
His leadership around the dressing room is viewed as a major strength in a squad that lacks them. Yet, reunited with his old boss Ten Hag partly because of his ability with the ball at his feet, Onana is now frequently asked to go long and hit strikers who struggle to hold the ball up.
It is felt Amorim is hugely supportive of him but the change in defensive structure, with players largely not used to the system, has been hard to adapt to.
He is more comfortable with life off the field than he was in Italy, mainly because he and his family speak English. But Onana knows United’s performances have not been good enough. He knows he bears some responsibility for that but is starting to feel he is shouldering most of the blame when there are multiple factors at play.
Those closest to him also suspect if United’s Europa League campaign does not end with them lifting the trophy in Bilbao next month and taking with it that prized Champions League berth, the events in Lyon will be cited as a significant reason, which could hasten Onana’s departure from Old Trafford.
That is a situation United had not bargained for six months ago.
They have known for some considerable time multiple areas of Amorim’s squad needed work – everyone can see a goalscorer is desperately required – but felt first-choice goalkeeper was reasonably secure.
United will still be paying off Onana’s fee in instalments spread across his five-year contract, meaning they would surely lose money if they were to consider selling him this summer.
Since the start of 2023-24, only Jordan Pickford (8.7) has prevented more goals based on Opta’s expected goals model in the Premier League than Manchester United’s Andre Onana (7.5).
