Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has reportedly welcomed the departure of goalkeeper Andre Onana, who is poised to join Trabzonspor on loan for the season. The Cameroon stopper did not feature in any of the Red Devils’ three Premier League games before the international break and saw Senne Lammens join the club on transfer deadline day.
With Altay Bayindir, who started the first three league games, and Tom Heaton all at the club, Amorim sought to trim his goalkeeping department and Onana has made way. Despite arriving from Inter Milan for £47.2million two years ago, Amorim is keen to usher the 29-year-old out the door.
The Sun claim that Onana’s relationship with Amorim broke down exponentially over the past month, with the player deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford.
An unnamed source described Onana as someone who “wasn’t showing any team mentality,” and the head coach was frustrated that he picked up a hamstring injury that ruled him out of almost the entirety of pre-season.
Their relationship was not bolstered by Onana’s decision to play football on a mud patch in his homeland in June, potentially risking injury.
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And with Onana joining fellow unwanted stars Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony out the door this summer, albeit Garnacho the only permanent sale, Amorim feels that his squad has a much more positive outlook for the season.
During pre-season, a conscious effort was made to improve squad morale. But in the days before the international break, Onana’s commitment was questioned in training. He effectively refused to even acknowledge Amorim, despite starting in the Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby.
Bayindir has played in every league match so far this season, but his three-game spell has also been error-strewn, prompting calls to throw Lammens into the starting lineup for Sunday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad.
Lammens, 23, has only ever played in Belgium prior to his £18.2m summer move and would be thrown straight into the deep end if he starts against Manchester City.
He only played 52 games for Royal Antwerp before leaving for Old Trafford. He was not initially seen as a first-team option this summer, but developments with Onana have forced United to accelerate their plans for the former Belgium Under-21 star.
A rival option was Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez, who has Premier League pedigree and could have made an immediate impact. However, the decision-makers at United opted to go in a different direction with Lammens, who is seen as a long-term prospect.