According to reports, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘supported the decision’ to offload Andre Onana, which has taken the 29-year-old ‘by surprise’.
Onana is closing in on a season-long loan move to Turkish side Trabzonspor after missing United‘s opening three Premier League fixtures.
The Cameroonian goalkeeper – who joined the Red Devils from Inter for around £45million in 2023 – injured his hamstring in pre-season but was fit and available for the club’s opener against Arsenal, only to be left out of the squad.
He returned the following week at Fulham, but only as a substitute as Ruben Amorim stuck with Altay Bayindir.
Onana was handed his first start of 2025/26 against Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup, but was at fault for both of the Mariners’ goals before getting his hand to, but failing to keep out, several penalties in the embarrassing shootout defeat.
Bayindir returned for the Red Devils’ first Premier League win of the season against Burnley three days later, with Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens joining on deadline day.
Lammens is expected to take Bayindir’s spot in the team, though it’s unclear if he will be thrown into the deep end for Sunday’s derby against Manchester City.
United stepped up their attempts to move Onana on after Lammens’ arrival, with their options limited to Turkey and Saudi Arabia after the closure of every other relevant transfer window.
The Turkish window closes on Friday and everything is in place for Onana to complete his move to Trabzonspor and face Fenerbahce on Sunday.
A report from the Daily Mail gives details on how the former Inter goalkeeper’s departure transpired, with it claimed that Ratcliffe ‘supported the decision’, in a ‘surprising’ twist.
Indeed, Ratcliffe’s internal backing of ditching Onana ‘took the player by surprise’. It’s said, however, that talks took place between head coach Amorim and director of football Jason Wilcox, who didn’t want the Cameroonian’s situation to ‘distract’ new signing Lammens while he tries to ‘settle in’.
Ratcliffe mentioned in March Onana when criticising the club’s transfer business before he purchased a 25 per cent stake in February 2024.
“If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn’t buy, we’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying Onana, we’re buying [Rasmus] Hojlund, we’re buying [Jadon] Sancho.
“These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out.
“Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.”
Onana was linked with French side AS Monaco earlier in the window, but they were put off by United’s £30million valuation. After that deal failed to materialise, the former Ajax star ‘expected to stay at Old Trafford’, the report adds.
However, Amorim ‘was unhappy’ when Onana tore his hamstring on the second day of pre-season, days after a video emerged of him playing outfield on a muddy pitch with friends in Cameroon.
The Mail Sport report adds:
But the 29-year-old became worried when he was left out of the opening game of the season against Arsenal despite recovering from the hamstring injury, and those concerns only grew when Bayindir started the second game at Fulham as well.
Onana was recalled for the Carabao Cup tie at Grimsby, but an error in United’s embarrassing defeat on penalties proved to be the final straw. Lammens was signed five days later and United informed Onana that it would be better for him to find a new club.
His options were limited because Turkey and Saudi Arabia were among the few countries where the transfer window remained open, but a loan to Trabzonspor was negotiated quickly.
The Turkish club are expected to sign the final paperwork before Friday’s deadline, and Onana is due to fly to Trabzon from Paris on Thursday. The goalkeeper, who will double his salary under the terms of the loan, is set to make his debut against Fenerbahce on Sunday.