Man Utd rocked by unexpected player making his return to the club

A surprise player will make his return to Manchester United at the end of the season, it has been reported.

United are in the provisional Champions League qualification places after a strong start to life under interim head coach Michael Carrick.

Carrick is in the midst of his second interim spell in charge - albeit his last stint lasted just two matches in 2021 - having previously made over 450 appearances for United as a player.

He is being supported by a vast coaching team, including ex-United defender Jonny Evans, who retired from professional football after being released by the club last summer.

Carrick's remit is unlikely to involve too many transfer decisions given that his contract runs until only the end of the season, but whoever is in charge next season will have plenty of difficult decisions to make in that department.

Chief among them is the plethora of United players that will return to the club from loan spells away.

Goalkeeper Andre Onana, who was deemed surplus to requirements and loaned out to Turkish giants Trabzonspor in September, is one of those players who will reportedly make his return.

Andre Onana is on loan at Trabzonspor until the end of the season (Image: Getty)

Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan has stated (via Sport Witness) that Onana's high salary means the chances of him sealing a permanent move to the Turkish club is exceptionally unlikely - with contrasting reports from local outlets over whether the Cameroon international will even keep his place in the starting XI after recent poor displays.

Onana is under contract at Old Trafford until 2028, meaning a transfer may not necessarily be easy for United to broker.

With Senne Lammens now firmly established as the number one goalkeeper at United, Onana's return would leave the club in limbo, given that any loan agreement would likely result in the exact same scenario next year as the one that faces them now.

Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, ex-United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar - who was technical director at Ajax at the same time as Onana was at the club - explained why he feels Onana hasn't worked out at United, and why it isn't entirely his fault.

"I thought, and I still think, that he has tremendous qualities - reflections and his feet," Van der Sar said. "But somehow, he has the odd mistake in him that makes you think, 'That's crazy, how can he do that'.

"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, not only for goalkeepers but also for a winger or midfielder."