Manchester United's Andre Onana to miss Cameroon's AFCON opener?

Cameroon's preparations for the tournament are underway, with the national side involved in a friendly against Zambia on Tuesday, but Onana has not yet linked up with his country for the competition.

The 27-year-old was between the sticks for Man United's FA Cup contest with Wigan Athletic on Monday, and he is also set to feature against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, less than 24 hours before Cameroon begin their AFCON tournament.

There had been suggestions that Onana would travel to Ivory Coast immediately after the game with Spurs, but according to inews, it is now likely that he will miss the contest with Guinea.

The goalkeeper's first appearance at the competition could therefore be against Senegal on January 19, and if his country fail to make it out of the group stage, he could return to Man United without missing a match.

After the Spurs clash, the Red Devils will not play again in the Premier League until the start of February, heading to Molineux to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, Erik ten Hag's side will face Newport County or Eastleigh in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the end of this month, having secured their spot in the next stage with a 2-0 success over Wigan.

Onana's international career appeared to be be finished when he left the camp at the 2022 World Cup following a falling-out with manager Rigobert Song and the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation Samuel Eto'o.

However, he earned an international recall in September, and as expected, the stopper was named in the Cameroon squad for the AFCON.

Onana is said to have delayed his exit for as long as possible as he has fears that he could lose his spot if number two Altay Bayindir impresses in his absence.

Bayindir is yet to make a single appearance since arriving from Fenerbahce over the summer, while Tom Heaton is also present in the goalkeeping department, and Ten Hag recently said that he would have no issues playing either Bayindir or Heaton when Onana does depart.

"So at some point Andre will go [to the Africa Cup of Nations]. We are totally happy and we constructed this group of goalkeepers because we are comfortable with this and we have that confidence in them both," Ten Hag told reporters.

"They are both very good goalkeepers, very experienced at the highest levels, so I think we can have a lot of belief that we have [enough] coverage.

"Not only coverage but also competition between the three [also including Tom Heaton] and so we are assured that if Andre has to go then we are good and we are in a good place with replacements to fill that gap."

The Africa Cup of Nations is due to run from January 13 to February 11, with Cameroon having group matches on January 15 against Guinea, January 19 against Senegal and January 23 against Gambia.