The Manchester United squad was ‘relieved’ to see Andre Onana leave the club for one reason, according to a report.
Onana joined Turkish side Trabzonspor on Thursday after they lost first-choice goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to Super Lig champions Galatasaray.
The Cameroonian spent two seasons at Old Trafford and made a number of high-profile errors, leading Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim to replace him as his No.1 at the start of 2025/26.
Altay Bayindir came into the side for the opening three Premier League matches of the campaign and the signing of Senne Lammens forced the Red Devils to offload Onana.
His options were limited to Turkey and Saudi Arabia as their transfer window remained open beyond the Premier League’s September 1 deadline, and Onana has found himself at a club that finished seventh in last season’s Turkish Super Lig.
French side AS Monaco enquired about the ex-Inter goalkeeper in the summer window but baulked at Man Utd’s £30million asking price, on top of the player’s £100,000-plus weekly wage demands.
Lammens is expected to take the No.1 shirt from Bayindir moving forward, though it’s unclear if he will come straight into the side for Sunday’s derby against Manchester City.
It was the Belgian’s arrival that changed the mood in the Man Utd squad as players were ‘relieved’ to see Onana leave, so there wasn’t the circus of having four first-team goalkeepers, with Tom Heaton also available to Amorim.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Man Utd players felt ‘relieved’ when Onana left as they were keen to ‘avoid the nonsense of a four-man goalkeeping department’.
It’s claimed that Amorim’s squad ‘felt it would have been a problem if Onana stayed’ following the addition of Lammens, with the former ‘feeling effectively forced out’.
Meanwhile, another report from MEN journalist Samuel Luckhurst delves into Onana’s time at Man Utd, stating that the 29-year-old ‘was under the impression he was safe on account of his warm rapport with Amorim’.
One moment that Onana ‘never truly recovered from’ in his error-laden Old Trafford spell was his “way better” quip before Man Utd faced Lyon in the quarter-final of the Europa League.
The Red Devils managed to knock out Lyon, despite the Cameroonian’s best efforts, after Lyon star and ex-United midfielder Nemanja Matic hit back at “one of the worst ‘keepers in Manchester United history”.
“If you are one of the worst ‘keepers in Manchester United history, you need to take care,” Matic said.
“If David de Gea, Peter Schmeichel or Edwin van der Sar said that, I would question myself.
“But if, statistically, you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United’s modern history, he needs to show that before he says.”
The report claims that Man Utd officials were ‘unhappy’ with Onana for his comment.