Man Utd Loanee ‘Eyeing Shock Old Trafford Return’ in Summer

André Onana hopes to re-establish himself as Manchester United’s starting goalkeeper next season following the departure of Ruben Amorim, a report has claimed.

Amorim dropped Onana to start the current season and ultimately replaced the Cameroon international with Senne Lammens, whose arrival saw Onana join Trabzonspor on a season-long loan which does not include a permanent transfer clause.

While reports had claimed Onana’s chances of a return to Old Trafford were almost zero, The Guardian state the 29-year-old is once again thinking about a career with United and reportedly believes he will be given a fair chance to impress the new manager when he returns this summer.

Trabzonspor, for their part, are thought to want to sign Onana permanently but it appears as though the goalkeeper is looking for a Premier League comeback instead.

Onana Faces Huge Battle to Rebuild Man Utd Reputation

Amorim’s decisions during his ill-fated time as United manager were regularly scrutinised and challenged by unhappy fans, but one which was met with universal praise was the move to sign a new goalkeeper.

United spent £47.2 million ($63.7 million) to whisk Onana away from Inter in 2023, believing they had found a stopper capable of defining a generation. While nobody can doubt Onana’s work rate and desire to live up to expectations, the on-field performances told a different story.

A series of costly errors kept piling the pressure on United. Onana was far from the only under-performer during his two years at Old Trafford, but the reality of life as a goalkeeper means mistakes are far more severe, and decision-makers ultimately decided a change was needed.

In came Lammens, billed almost as the antithesis of Onana. The 23-year-old is a solid goalkeeper whose greatest attributes are his composure and steadiness—somebody who defines ‘a steady pair of hands’ and embodies a 7/10 match rating. To Lammens’s credit, he’s delivered exactly that.

Five clean sheets in 22 games across all competitions is nothing special, but it never needed to be. United just wanted somebody to instil confidence in the defenders in front of him even when an inevitable mistake arrives.

“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,” interim boss Michael Carrick said of Lammens recently. “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.”

Who Will Decide Onana’s Future?

Carrick appears to have made it clear that, if it was up to him, he would back Lammens over Onana. Fortunately for the Trabzonspor loanee, it may not be Carrick who gets to decide.

The interim boss will undoubtedly be asked for his verdict on the squad, but a louder voice will come from whoever sits in the dugout next season. That could well be Carrick, who has obviously caught the eye during his temporary stint, but it could just as easily be another manager.

In modern football, the final decision tends to come from those upstairs. It is the ‘Head Coach vs. Manager’ debate of which Amorim fell foul, wanting a greater say in transfer decisions but being asked to focus on coaching.

United’s next permanent manager will be made to understand the hierarchy at Old Trafford. Their transfer involvement will not be non-existent, but they will bow to the opinion of United’s recruitment team, spearheaded by director of football Jason Wilcox.

Wilcox is thought to have played a part in the decision to move on from Onana last summer and may still retain that stance on a player who has conceded 30 goals in 20 games during his time in Türkiye.

Nevertheless, Onana is due back at United in the summer, when he will have two years left on his contract. If he is not welcomed back into the squad, a permanent exit will be the preferred option before Onana’s value starts to reduce even further.

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