André Onana wants to fight to re-establish himself as Manchester United’s No 1 when his season’s loan at Trabzonspor finishes in May and believes he will be given a chance to do so.
The 29-year-old signed for the Turkish club on 11 September after his erratic form moved United to sign Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for £18m. He is due to report for pre-season training at United.
Onana joined United from Inter in July 2023 on a five-year contract for an initial £44.1m but proved too inconsistent, making a series of errors. Erik ten Hag signed the Cameroonian and made him the first choice but his successor Ruben Amorim dropped Onana for April’s trip to Newcastle after the goalkeeper was culpable for both goals in a 2-2 draw at Lyon, and left him out at the start of this season.
Despite Onana’s understanding that he will have a chance to compete for the No 1 jersey, he faces a struggle to reclaim it given the impressive form of Lammens.
The 23-year-old has been impressive in his debut campaign in English football, keeping five clean sheets in 21 Premier League games and displaying an assured calmness. In Monday’s 1-0 win at Everton the Belgian made a number of vital saves and dealt well with set plays. After, he drew praise from Michael Carrick.
“You want a goalkeeper to be reliable, trustworthy and, instead of creating the chaos, you want him to take the chaos away and calm things down,” said the interim manager. “I think Senne is that. He’s quite quiet at times and unassuming but he’s got a real steeliness. To step in, it’s a big role – for some.”
