Cameroon: Onana wants to delay his arrival!

As AFCON 2023 fever gradually builds, the case of André Onana continues to cause a stir in Cameroon.

The last tournament ended in disaster. Just over a year ago, at the 2022 World Cup, the Indomitable Lions’ goalkeeper left the squad following an altercation with coach Rigobert Song.

Eight months went by, against a backdrop of controversial debates about Samuel Eto’o’s supposed responsibility for the player’s sidelining, before the latter came out of his premature international retirement at the beginning of September.

Since then, the former Ajax and Inter keeper has regained his starting place in goal.

And this despite his repeated blunders with his new club Manchester United, which he joined last summer and where he is rightly regularly criticized for his below-par performances.

The 27-year-old giant (1.90m) fears that he will lose his status as the Red Devils’ undisputed star after his departure for the African Cup of Nations, should his understudy Altay Bayindir prove satisfactory. So much so, in fact, that he initially considered skipping the 34th continental event in order to concentrate on his club career.

Onana negotiates with the Federation

But failing to sacrifice the tournament, the pure product of the Eto’o Academy, present on the list unveiled by Song on Thursday, would do anything to postpone the deadline as long as possible.

And that’s where things could get sticky, with a new controversy with the Cameroon national team possibly in the offing. According to ESPN, the Nkol Ngok native is in talks with the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot) to delay his arrival in the national team.

Andre Onana in talks to delay release ahead of AFCON. Wants to limit time away from Man United as much as possible ahead of Cameroon campaign starting on January 15

While Vincent Aboubakar’s team will be heading off to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a training camp, the player concerned is keen to rejoin his team-mates after playing in the third round of the FA Cup with MU against Wigan on January 8.

This compromises his participation in the final test match against Zambia on the following day, January 9.

Cameroon take on Guinea in Group C on January 15. Not sure Rigobert Song will be pleased…