Man Utd duo caught up in AFCON chaos as Mohamed Salah position made clear

The Africa Cup of Nations gets underway this weekend with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah aiming for glory, but two Manchester United players are embroiled in a chaotic situation on the eve of the tournament

Manchester United duo Bryan Mbeumo and Andre Onana find themselves embroiled in chaos ahead of AFCON(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)

Ruben Amorim's tenure at Manchester United has been anything but smooth sailing. Yet, when compared to Bryan Mbeumo's current predicament with Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations squad, all seems tranquil at Old Trafford.

Mbeumo is one of 32 Premier League players in action at the tournament in Morocco, with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah also aiming for a first AFCON title. Despite being left out of Egypt's squad for a warmup friendly earlier this week, the 33-year-old will be expected to lead his country out in their first game against Zimbabwe on Monday, a day after the tournament kicks off with the hosts facing Comoros.

There is plenty of confusion elsewhere on the eve of the tournament though, with two of United's players embroiled in the chaos. Mbeumo has found himself being selected by two different managers for Cameroon, while Andre Onana - on loan at Trabzonspor from United - finds himself in an even more precarious position, with one manager including him and the other leaving him out.

Marc Brys, the nation's erstwhile manager who was fired by Cameroonian FA president Samuel Eto'o, insists he still holds the role, despite David Pagou being named earlier this month. As the tournament's kick-off looms, two distinct Cameroon AFCON squad lists have emerged.

Fortunately for Mbeumo, as one of his country's star players, he appears on both lists. The same can't be said for Onana, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Brys was shown the door by the Cameroon FA shortly after Eto'o, the iconic former Barcelona and Inter Milan player, was re-elected as the country's FA president with a whopping 97% of the vote. His rapport with Brys was fraught from the get-go.

Marc Brys insists he still holds the role of Cameroon's manager despite being fired(Image: AFP or licensors)

The friction began when the Cameroonian sports ministry appointed the Belgian manager, despite Eto'o's objections. After his re-election, the former striker saw this as a green light to oust the Belgian from his role.

ESPN reports that a fiery meeting between Eto'o and his committee ended with allegations of "11 infractions" committed by Brys, including "disrespectful" and "biased" comments, "professional misconduct", and "manipulation" of players. Specific claims were made that he tried to turn them against the country's FA.

However, Brys insists he has not received any official notice from the Cameroonian FA regarding his dismissal, even though Pagou is now in position. He has carried on with his duties as usual, despite the far from normal circumstances.

He submitted his own squad list for the competition, featuring Onana along with other seasoned Cameroon internationals Vincent Aboubakar, Eric Choupo-Moting and Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui. On the same day, Pagou unveiled his own team for the tournament, notably leaving out the aforementioned four.

Last week, there was doubt over whether the excluded Onana, Aboubakar, Choupo-Moting and Ngadeu-Ngadjui would actually take part in the competition. A Cameroonian official clarified to the same source that any player listed by Brys but missing from Pagou's roster will not be participating.

Cameroonian FA president Samuel Eto'o(Image: 2024 FIFA)

The former Cameroon boss, whilst maintaining he remains in control, has voiced his frustration regarding the current circumstances. He particularly targeted Eto'o, claiming the experienced quartet have been excluded because they challenged the former Chelsea forward's authority.

Speaking to Afrik Foot, he stated: "Eto'o has left out important players, and leaders, because he's obviously the one who made this list.

"How can you go to such a tournament without a world-class goalkeeper, or without Aboubakar? Because these are players with character, who stand up to the president."