After his dismal performance against Galatasaray, Andre Onana allegedly wants out of the AFCON to defend his starting position for Manchester United.

The Cameroonian was supposed to board a plane in Manchester in January to figҺt for continental glory with Rigobert Song’s army. The Sun reports that the goalkeeper is reportedly considering staying at Carrington instead of pursuing that plan due to concerns about his position in the team’s hierarchy and the possibility that Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayinider may take over as starter in his absence.

United lost a 2-0 lead to Galatasaray in Wednesday’s Champions League match due to two gaffes by Onana, who helped his team to a 3-3 draw. Once again, he was in the news for all the wrong reasons, leaving him looking agitated and angry at full-time. He was even seen removing his gloves in anger. On top of that, his skills have been called into question before; he made similar naive mistakes in goal before, most notably in a Champions League match against Bayern Munich.

Ten Hag encouraged Bayindir to be patient and dropped hints that he would get his chance soon after the contest.

That bunch of goalkeepers is doing a good job for us. A manager told reporters that the players needed to challenge each other.

Altay is doing great; all he needs is patience, and we couldn’t be happier with him. He will have to seize his opportunity if he keeps working hard and making improvement.

HAD YOU ANY IDEA?

Midway through the 2022 World Cup, Onana decided to retire from international football following a cоnflict with Cameroon manager, Song. But they’ve put their issues aside and moved on; Onana even contributed significantly to the team’s performance in the AFCON qualifiers while the manager was in charge. The 27-year-old may sit for six United matches if Cameroon advances to the championship game.

Ten Hag will be faced with a difficult decision if Onana keeps making high-profile mistakes in goal. After 20 games this season, the Red Devils have let in 33 goals across all competitions, their lowest goal-scoring performance since 1962–63. On Saturday, United will face Newcastle in the Premier League, and the goalkeeper will be looking to silence his detractors.