It has been revealed why West Ham United turned down the chance to sign Andre Onana, with the Manchester United goalkeeper now set for Turkey.
When Andre Onana was left out of the opening day squad to face Arsenal, many assumed that he would return to the starting lineup for the Fulham trip, especially after Altay Bayindir’s error from a Declan Rice corner.
The Cameroonian did return to the squad for Manchester United’s Craven Cottage visit, but he remained on the substitutes bench as Bayindir again started ahead of him. Rúben Amorim made it clear that Bayindir was the starter for the time being.
In the EFL Cup game against Grimsby Town, Onana was given a chance to get back into the United side, but – simply put – he was dreadful and his United career now appears to be over.
Trabzonspor presented a loan deal that Jason Wilcox quickly accepted, and Onana looks set for a move to Turkey, but he could have joined West Ham United before the English transfer window closed.
Why didn’t West Ham sign Onana?
With Senne Lammens joining United, Onana knew he wouldn’t be playing regular football, so he began to look for a move away, and West Ham United were interested, despite only recently buying Mads Hermansen from Leicester City.
TalkSport have reported that West Ham were “actively considering” signing Onana, but chose to stay clear after his embarrassing performance in the Carabao Cup.
David Sullivan – the Hammers Chairman – “opted not to follow up their interest after watching Onana make two errors in United’s humiliating EFL Cup exit at the hands of Grimsby.”
Onana’s poor performance against Grimsby single-handedly ripped his Premier League career away from him, just two years after his man-of-the-match performance in the Champions League final for Inter Milan against Manchester City.
Lammens needs time to settle in
Unlike Onana, Lammens joins United as a very inexperienced goalkeeper, who shouldn’t be expected to immediately come in and hit the ground running.
Despite this, he could be set to start the Manchester derby after a new report indicated Amorim trusts the youngster to play from the outset.
Lammens needs to be given time to settle into life in Manchester before huge demands are put on him, but this could be harder to do if Bayindir continues to make simple shot-stopping mistakes.
The fan base needs to ensure they get behind Lammens, rather than putting him down if he doesn’t start well.
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