Trabzonspor Reveals United's Revised Onana Valuation as Van der Sar Backs Beleaguered Keeper

Manchester United have ramped up their valuation for Andre Onana, leaving Trabzonspor firmly on the sidelines as summer approaches.

The Red Devils shipped the goalkeeper out on a season-long loan to the Turkish Super Lig outfit last summer following Ruben Amorim's arrival, but they've now set their sights considerably higher than the €35m (£30m) they were asking last year. Trabzonspor vice-president Zeyyat Kafkas confirmed the new asking price sits in the region of €45-50m – a figure that puts the club's ambitions well beyond reach.

"Our president has sincerely informed the community in line with Trabzonspor's realities," Kafkas explained. "I don't think this information affected Onana at all. Because Onana's thinking is that if it's not England, he wants to continue at a club in Europe. His family thinks the same way."

Kafkas did leave the door slightly ajar, however, suggesting circumstances could shift if conditions change in the coming months.

Onana's journey at United has been a study in unfulfilled potential since his summer 2023 arrival from Inter Milan. While he initially served as the club's first-choice keeper, his tenure became increasingly defined by catastrophic lapses in concentration rather than the assured performances that had marked his earlier career. The 2024-25 season proved particularly damaging to his reputation, with errors stacking up at a rate that tested even the patience of United's long-suffering supporters.

Despite the turbulence, Trabzonspor manager Fatih Tekke has offered a more charitable assessment of the 28-year-old's contributions in Turkey. "There have been matches where he didn't play well. There have also been many matches where he played well," Tekke said. "I'm very pleased with Onana's positivity, not only in terms of performance but also in terms of character. He feels very comfortable here. He is very happy here, but he will make his own decision about his future."

The goalkeeper's struggles at Old Trafford haven't gone unnoticed by those who know him best. Edwin van der Sar, the United legend who worked with Onana during his Ajax days, has offered a nuanced defence of the keeper's abilities whilst acknowledging the complications that have dogged his time in Manchester.

"I worked with Andre Onana for three or four years at Ajax," van der Sar told Sky Bet. "He came in as a third-choice goalkeeper and was very eager to step up and become the first choice. I thought, and I still think, that he has tremendous qualities – reflections and his feet – but somehow, he has the odd mistake in him that makes you think 'That's crazy, how can he do that.'"

Van der Sar pointed to the broader instability that has plagued United in recent years as a contributing factor. "A team wants stability, to know what your goalkeeper is doing so the back four can relate and I think that's what happened with Andre. Manchester United haven't had stability for the last six or seven years – the back four changing, the centre-halves and midfielders changing, coaches changing – so it's difficult for new players to come into an environment where the expectations are high."

The former Ajax chief suggested that Onana's pedigree – which includes a Champions League final appearance and a successful spell in Serie A – should have counted for something at United. "I absolutely thought that he would succeed when he first came here to United. I worked with him and saw him at Ajax, he did well in Italy and played in a Champions League final, so I thought it was a match made in heaven. A lot of players who have come here in the last eight or nine years have not reached the level that people expected them to reach."