Onana’s United exit leaves Amorim with more questions than answers

Altay Bayindir: age 27, seven Premier League appearances for Manchester United and a catalogue of game-costing errors. Senne Lammens: age 23, has never played in English football. Tom Heaton: age 39, last Premier League game January 2020, for Aston Villa. André Onana: age 29, 72 Premier League matches, Champions League and Europa League finalist, and a catalogue of game-costing errors.

The first three are goalkeepers Ruben Amorim can field on Sunday in the derby at Manchester City and beyond. The last is the keeper who is joining Trabzonspor for the season in what appears to be one more head-scratching development at a club that continues to seek clarity.

The case of a gang-of-four keepers reduced to three is the latest complex puzzle Amorim has to solve if he is to survive, and United prosper. It encapsulates the quasi-sisyphean task piloting the club has become since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago, where an attempt to solve a problem – in this case, remove an out-of-form Onana – compounds it when the man Amorim drafts in, Bayindir, proves as faulty.

After judging Onana, Amorim made his move, dropping him last season and for the opening three league matches of this campaign. But Bayindir’s claim on the jersey faltered when he was responsible for Arsenal’s winner in the 1-0 opening-day defeat, and he continues to be shaky.

Here the poor squad-building plaguing the 20-times champions since Ferguson left means Amorim inherited unreliable first- and second-choice keepers who were acquired under his predecessor, Erik ten Hag, and may cost the Portuguese his job. The equation is simple: ship goals regularly, results are bound to nosedive, and only one person pays.

Onana’s two terms at United have featured a litany of mistakes. The latest came in the embarrassing 12-11 Carabao Cup penalty shootout defeat at Grimsby, with the Cameroonian culpable for both goals in the 2-2 draw. Beyond the previous regime’s dodgy recruitment is Amorim’s own questionable recruitment choices. Jason Wilcox as director of football, can counter his head coach but the head coach’s voice usually carries the day.

When removing Onana for the 4-1 defeat by Newcastle last April in response to rickets that allowed Lyon’s goals in the 2-2 Europa League quarter-final draw three days earlier, Amorim signalled a distrust in Onana. So why, then, allow the summer window to reach the opening weekend, and turn up for Arsenal’s visit, having not secured a high-end replacement?

Now we come to the decision that allowed Onana to join Trabzonspor – which seems muddled, to put it gently. First, Onana was informed “100%” he would not leave this summer. Yet when a new contract was mentioned by the player – his ends in June 2028 – the indication was this may not be forthcoming. After this knock-back Trabzanspor’s interest perked the player’s interest, particularly in an Africa Cup of Nations year (the tournament starts on 21 December) when regular game time is needed. And because he will get a signing-on fee and a greater wage with the Süper Lig 20% tax rate, the loan became a no-brainer. He has extra motivation to maximise his earnings to support his André Onana Foundation, and no Champions League football means no 25% salary boost for the squad at United.

Amorim is left to rely on Bayindir or Lammens (Heaton has not played for United since February 2023). The former is inexperienced in the Premier League and mistake-prone. The latter is even more callow and yet to play for Belgium. At this juncture you wonder why Villa’s World Cup winner Emiliano Martínez was not signed, as Amorim/United considered. His age (33) and approximate £35m asking price were prime factors, but the Argentinian’s personality and vast experience would not leave Amorim in the state that has proved treacherous for Ferguson’s previous successors: hopeful that a crucial decision works rather than being fatal.

Demoting Onana may work – or, it may backfire. Reel forward to the Etihad Stadium at 4.30pm and whoever Amorim selects (Bayindir, surely) will be targeted by Pep Guardiola’s men, and the scrutiny of the matchday cameras and every watcher will be fierce. If yet another goal is thrown in, the fun for all, other than Amorim and the rest of United’s tribe, starts up again.

Last December, after the 4-0 trouncing of Everton at Old Trafford, Amorim declared “the storm will come” for United: words of apparent sagacious forward-thinking after three unbeaten outings began his reign. It prompted a question, too: how hard and long would the tempest rage before the Portuguese would calm the leviathan club likened to a “monster” by one predecessor, David Moyes.

Nine months have passed and the storm keeps raging, the monster remains untamed. Common sense suggests someone, some time, has to right United and be the man who leads the club of Billy Meredith, Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton, George Best and Cristiano Ronaldo back to the promised land. But to gamble that Bayindir or Lammens can take over the vital role of being the United No 1 – and handle the spotlight – seems foolhardy.

Amorim is not to blame for Onana and Bayindir being at the club but now has to pray that his solution to an issue flagged last April when dropping Onana does not blow up.

If it does, questions could follow regarding his position from Wilcox and his boss, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who, as head of football, can pull the trigger at any time.

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