Man United goalkeeper Andre Onana faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford beyond this summer after several poor performances.
Andre Onana reportedly received ‘a shock to the system’ after the Manchester United goalkeeper’s wage was reduced by 25 per cent following the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League this season.
The Reds failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League after finishing eighth in the Premier League last term. It meant that despite winning the FA Cup against rivals Manchester City in May, United’s failure to finish inside the top four led to a wage cut among first-team players.
The Athletic claims that Onana’s reduced wage ‘came as a shock to the system’. The goalkeeper is said to have spoken to now-departed sporting director Dan Ashworth about the issue. The Cameroon keeper has struggled badly at times since arriving from Inter Milan in 2023.
Onana was flung into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons as United let slip a late lead against Lyon in last Thursday’s 2-2 draw in the Europa League. The 29-year-old was at fault for both goals scored by the French side.
Onana first let Thiago Almada’s cross find the back of the net from out wide and then fumbled an attempt straight into Rayan Cherki’s path for Lyon’s last-minute equaliser. It came after a disagreement with former United midfielder Nemanja Matic, who now plays for Lyon but was listed among the substitutes for the match.
The Athletic report also claims Onana is likely to stay at the club despite his high-profile mistakes since arriving in M16. He signed a five-year deal at United and the fee was amortised over the length of that contract, meaning his value stands at around £26million, a fee unlikely to be matched by a potential buyer.
Reds boss Ruben Amorim defended Onana after the game in France last week, insisting that he will not say anything to United’s under-pressure goalkeeper. The 29-year-old was rested for Sunday’s defeat at Newcastle but could return for the second leg against Lyon.
“It can happen,” Amorim said of Onana’s mistakes. “If you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes. If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months. The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.
“I don’t know (if Matic unsettled Onana), that can happen. The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, talk with (Jorge) Vital and Craig (Mawson), this is the best way to help any player. It’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve and then put the player in.
“I didn’t see [Onana], to be honest with you. I use these minutes to try to calm down, to come here to say the right things.
“It’s normal. I felt the dressing room was really quiet. We draw away, in Europe, that is always hard, but the team is suffering, we need to change that.
“Nothing. We have training, go with Vital and we deal with that. Really natural. That can happen with any player.
“There’s nothing I can say to Andre in this moment. The most important thing is to be natural and then, when the time comes, I will choose the best XI to play. But I’m really confident in Andre.”
2025-04-15 20:30:00
