Manchester United goalkeeper has performed a U-turn on his Cameroon national team career after deciding to retire from international football last December.
According to The Athletic, the 27-year-old will rejoin the Indomitable Lions for the first time since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after being recalled to the national squad in August.
Onana announced his retirement from international football towards the end of 2022 after having disagreements with Cameroon head coach Rigobert Song.
Song’s decision to leave the new Man Utd keeper on the bench in a group stage fixture against Serbia in Qatar didn’t go down well with the player as he left the camp and flew home.
The 2018 Cameroonian Footballer of the Year award winner decided to hang up his international boots soon after, but he seems to have overcome his differences with the Indomitable Lions boss.
Onana will regain his place between the sticks when Cameroon take on Burundi on September 12 in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying Group C contest.
Despite kicking off their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win away to Burundi, the Cameroonians were winless in a subsequent doubleheader against Namibia (D1, L1).
Going into the final qualifying round, they are level on points with the Swallows and need to avoid defeat on home soil to lock down a berth at next year’s tournament.
If they live up to their tag as pre-match favourites, Song’s men will secure a fifth consecutive AFCON appearance, with Ivory Coast set to host the next edition in January 2024.
Last year’s World Cup in the Middle East forced the postponement of Africa’s most prominent international competition, meaning Man United could sorely miss Onana for as many as four Premier League games next winter.
The highly-rated keeper swapped Inter Milan for Old Trafford after a long-running summer saga in a mega-money deal worth €51 million plus €4m in add-ons.
He was in goal as Erik ten Hag’s side suffered a heartbreaking 3-1 loss at Arsenal in their final league outing before September’s international break on Sunday.
