Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has confirmed that Andre Onana will start Thursday's Europa League clash against Lyon.
Onana made two mistakes in the first leg of the quarter-final between the two sides last week, which contributed to him being left out of the squad for Sunday's Premier League clash with Newcastle United.
Altay Bayindir made his Premier League debut against the Magpies, but a difficult afternoon saw the Turkey international concede four times.
Amorim has confirmed that Onana will be back between the sticks against Lyon, as the 20-time English champions bid to navigate their way into the semi-finals of the tournament against either Athletic Bilbao or Rangers.
"Onana will play tomorrow," Amorim told reporters. "I just think first of all as a coach, and also as a former player.
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Onana will start against Lyon on Thursday
"I try to do things that can help a player in this situation. So sometimes we talk about managing players physically, we have to manage them also mentally. But then, they have to return to competition and Onana is ready.
"He had one weekend that I felt it was better for him to not play, and a good thing for Altay, and this week, my thinking was to put Onana to play."
Onana was involved in a war of words with Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic ahead of the match, with the latter branding the Cameroonian "one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United history".
It is alleged that several of the Man United players turned on Onana after his latest poor showing, with the 29-year-old making a number of mistakes since arriving at Old Trafford from Inter Milan in the summer of 2023.
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Does Onana have a long-term future at Man United?
Onana has had a difficult few weeks both on and off the field, with the goalkeeper's wife, Melanie Kamayou, being robbed outside a restaurant last month, and it has since been revealed that a 25-year-old man from Bradford has been charged with one count of robbery.
This season, Onana has only kept 10 clean sheets in 43 appearances for Man United, conceding 56 times, while he has made a number of high-profile mistakes during his time in Manchester.
When asked about the possibility of signing a new goalkeeper this summer, Amorim said: "We need to improve. We cannot look to the team of Manchester United and say, 'we are in this position in the league, we have been really under-performing this season' and you cannot change all the players. What you should do, is to improve any position on the team with the players that we have, and try to bring different characteristics for the next year.
"We can work with Andre, if our team scores more goals and is more dangerous on the forwards and the strikers, we will defend better, Onana will defend better. Andre Onana already proved that he's a top player in Inter. So he has the past, Altay the same thing in Fenerbahce. Sometimes you have some seasons where we are underperforming. If we are going that if any player is underperforming you have to change everything, that is not the process that we need now."
Amorim is believed to be determined to bring a new goalkeeper to the club this summer, so Onana's days at the club are seemingly numbered, with a new number one expected to arrive in the upcoming market.
Onana's future is expected to be away from Man United, but Amorim needs his number one to finish the campaign on a positive note, and helping the Red Devils book their spot in the semi-finals of the competition on Thursday night would be a huge step in the right direction.
Matt Law
