Manchester United’s goalkeeper André Onana will be available for the Premier League game against Tottenham on 14 January, 24 hours before Cameroon start their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Guinea.
United and Onana have reached an agreement with the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) to delay his release for the tournament. The compromise will allow the 27-year-old to be involved in the FA Cup third round tie at Wigan on Monday and Spurs’ visit to Old Trafford before flying immediately after that game to the Ivory Coast.
Fecafoot was prepared to be flexible having persuaded Onana to come out of international retirement and help their Afcon qualifying campaign in September. The keeper ended his international career in 2022 following a dispute with Fecafoot president, Samuel Eto’o, and had not expected to be involved in Afcon when signing from Internazionale last summer.
Onana’s desire to play for both club and country – he could have potentially missed six United matches without the delayed release – convinced Cameroon to accept his late arrival in Ivory Coast.
Casemiro and Lisandro Martínez, meanwhile, have given Erik ten Hag a significant boost by returning to full training following long-term injuries. Martínez has been out since suffering a foot injury that required surgery in the Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in September. Casemiro has been sidelined since 1 November by a hamstring problem.
The defender and midfielder had been working individually with United’s medical staff before returning to full training on Wednesday.
