Onana's unexpected decision that benefits Man Utd and hurts the Cameroonian national team

Manchester United are facing a decisive stage of the season. They are already eliminated in the Carabao Cup and Champions League, but they still have two important objectives. One is to win the FA Cup title, where they advanced to the round of 32 this week thanks to a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic. The other is to improve their Premier League performance.

In the English league standings they are far behind leaders Liverpool. The Reds have 45 points, while the Red Devils have 31. That is why it is almost impossible for them to compete for the title, but that is not the only important thing. They are now in eighth place, outside the qualification zone for international tournaments. Their goal is to get in there and climb as high as possible to try to win a place in the next Champions League.

To achieve this, coach Erik Ten Hag needs to rely on his best players. Some of them are recovering from their respective injuries and will be ready to return soon, like Lisandro Martinez and Mason Mount. But the exact opposite will be true for one of them.

Andre Onana was called up by the Cameroon national team to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast between January 13 and February 11. This means he will miss several Premier League matches with the Red Devils. However, he made an unexpected decision to try to help his team.

What will he do?

Although most of the African players returned to their continent to join their respective national team training, Onana took a different path. According to The Sun, he decided to stay in England until next Sunday, when Manchester United will face Tottenham at Old Trafford. This will be good news for Ten Hag, but very bad news for Rigobert Song, Cameroon manager: they will debut in the Africa Cup of Nations the next day, against Guinea, and Onana will not arrive in time to play.