André Onana Onana (born April 2, 1996) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays goalie for Premier League club Manchester United and the Cameroon national team.
Onana joined the Barcelona youth system in 2010. He joined Ajax in 2015, where he played 214 games and won three Eredivisie titles.
Onana joined Inter Milan on a free transfer in July 2022, where he won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana titles in his only season, as well as reaching the Champions League final. Manchester United then signed Onana for an initial fee of £43.8 million in 2023.
Onana has appeared for the Cameroon national team more than 30 times since his debut in September 2016.
Early Life
Andre Onana, a loyal Cameroonian citizen, was born and raised in Nkol Ngok, a neighborhood of Yaounde, the capital city.
He belongs to the Bantu ethnic group, which is primarily found in Central and Southern Africa.
Onana’s heritage reflects Cameroon’s vast ethnic and cultural diversity. Despite the hardships he has faced along the way, he values his background and roots and serves as an inspiration to young Cameroonian and African athletes.
Onana is one of the fortunate few who have had unwavering parental support in their quest for a professional football career. His father, Francois Onana, and mother, Adele Onana, have both supported him.
He also has four brothers, but no sisters. Tragically, one of his brothers died in a vehicle accident at the age of 32, and information about the other is unavailable.
Club career
Onana was born in Nkol Ngok and joined Barcelona from the Samuel Eto’o Academy when he was 14 years old in 2010.
Because he was under 18 and a non-EU citizen, Onana was loaned to Cornellà’s youth squad in the 2012-13 season before being loaned back to Vista Alegre’s main team the following season.
Ajax
In early January 2015, it was confirmed that he would join the Dutch team Ajax in July 2015.
The transfer was moved up later that month. In February 2015, he made his Eerste Divisie debut with Jong Ajax.
He signed a new deal with Ajax in May 2017, which runs until 2021. In March 2019, he signed a new deal until June 2022. In November 2019, he expressed the desire to play in England’s Premier League.
UEFA suspended Onana from playing for 12 months in February 2021 after he tested positive for furosemide, a prohibited drug.
Onana said he took his wife’s medicine by mistake, and Ajax supported him in appealing the judgment. The Court of Arbitration for Sport lowered the ban to nine months in June.
In January 2022, he was linked with a move to Italian side Inter Milan. In May 2022, he confirmed his departure from Ajax.
Onana spent seven and a half years with Ajax, appearing in 214 matches across all competitions.
Inter Milan
On July 1, 2022, Inter Milan officially confirmed Onana’s free move and a five-year contract.
In January 2023, he won the Supercoppa Italiana over rivals AC Milan, and in May 2023, he defeated Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia.
He was instrumental in leading Inter to the 2023 Champions League Final.
Manchester United
Following conversations with the club throughout the month, Onana and Manchester United agreed on personal terms for a five-year contract on July 16, 2023.
Manchester United completed the move on July 20 for an initial £43.8 million cost with Inter for the sale of Onana, with a potential £3.4 million in add-ons, bringing Onana back to his former Ajax coach, Erik ten Hag.
In the team’s Premier League opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Onana made his competitive debut.
He preserved a clean sheet as United won the game 1-0, but was at the center of controversy when referee Simon Hooper and VAR Michael Salisbury chose not to award a late penalty for a foul by Onana on Saša Kalajdžić.
On October 24, 2023, he stopped a penalty in the 97th minute of a Champions League encounter against Copenhagen, resulting in his club’s first win of the season.
A month later, Onana was highly condemned for his performance in a 3-3 Champions League match against Galatasaray; he was explicitly blamed for Galatasaray’s first two goals, which came from free kicks by former Ajax colleague Hakim Ziyech.
International career
Onana is a former Cameroonian youth international. He was picked for Cameroon’s squad for a friendly match against France in May 2016.
In September 2016, Onana made his Cameroonian debut against Gabon in a 2-1 friendly win. He played in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations third-place match against Burkina Faso.
On November 9, 2022, he was appointed to the final roster for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
He played the first match against Switzerland before being dropped in the second against Serbia, and he was subsequently sent home from the tournament on November 28 by manager Rigobert Song due to a disciplinary issue stemming from disagreements over the latter’s coaching tactics.
Onana confirmed his retirement from international football on December 23, 2022.
Just over eight months later, on August 29, 2023, Rigobert Song recalled Onana to the Cameroon squad for an Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Burundi.
Relationship
Andre Onana is happily married to Melanie Kamayou, and the couple has one child together.
Their romance first piqued the public’s interest in early 2019, sparking rumors that later proved real.
They married and had a child, and it appears that they are currently enjoying a life of comfort and peace.
Net Worth
André Onana has an estimated net worth of $5 million. The Sun alleges that Manchester United pays him £100,000 each week.