The whole of Europe is shaking; AFCON is about to begin. Not only are football fans around the world looking forward to the biggest African competition, but also the managers from top European clubs are trembling at this hour, knowing that their best players will be away for at least a month. Manchester United currently is in that category, but unlike some other clubs (like Nottingham with six Africans departing), the Red Devils will miss ‘only’ two players: Andre Onana and Sofyan Amrabat. The on-loan Fiorentina midfielder is already in Africa with his Morocco national team, but United somehow managed to pull off a fantastic deal with Cameroon, and Indomitable Lions will get their keeper on the day when they start their AFCON adventure!🚨 André Onana don gree play 2 matches in the space of 24 hours 😨January 14: 🧤 vs SpursJanuary 15: 🧤 vs Guinea pic.twitter.com/4AsJ6ZqroR— MUIP (@ManUtdInPidgin) January 4, 2024 In a very strange series of events, Andre Onana will be on United’s goal against Tottenham on Sunday, January 14th (the game is played at 19:30 Nairobi time), and his next appearance is on January 15th, at AFCON (in Ivory Coast), against Guinea (20:00 Nairobi time). So, in just 25 hours, Onana will play for 90 minutes, then fly under nine hours to Abidjan and another three hours by car to Yamoussoukro, where the game will take place! Of course, he will need to rest a bit, and it’s not certain that he will make it for the final practice with his teammate before the game.Onana between a rock and hard place – Cameroon or Man United? Or neither?!It’s still not explained how this happened and what urged Cameroon to allow this to happen. The clubs are obliged by FIFA to let players go to AFCON two weeks before the games, and even better players than Onana, such as Mohamed Salah are already gone from England. The Red Devils somehow managed to ensure that their number-one keeper will be available for this tough match, and then they will have to rely on Altay Bayındır and Tom Heaton against Wolves, West Ham and Aston Villa.##NAJAVA_MECA_7775963##One of the apparent reasons for this unusual agreement was the fact that Cameroon was sympathetic to United’s request because Onana had retired from international football when he moved to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in July before reversing his decision in September. Some also believe that the Indomitable Lions have already decided not to field Onana against Guinea, so they have no problem letting him play against Tottenham.
