André Onana will miss Cameroon’s opening Africa Cup of Nations match in order to be available for Manchester United’s Premier League match against Tottenham.
The Cameroonian FA granted Onana permission to miss a pre-season camp in Saudi Arabia so he could play in Monday’s FA Cup match for United against Wigan Athletic.
The Cameroon Federation has acknowledged that the goalkeeper is unlikely to be available for their first AFCON group game against Guinea 24 hours later, on January 15, according to a source who spoke to ESPN. The goalie is expected to delay his travel even longer in order to play against Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Onana is scheduled to play in the last two Group C matches on January 19 against Senegal and January 23 against the Gambia.
He will miss United’s FA Cup fourth-round match on the weekend of January 27–28 against either Newport County or Eastleigh. Should Cameroon advance to the tournament’s Ivory Coast final, he could remain with them until February 11.
Meanwhile, British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to be in the stands for the first time since agreeing to buy a 25% stake in United when Tottenham visit Old Trafford this weekend.