Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir will “get his chances”, manager Erik ten Hag has revealed amid ongoing scrutiny of Andre Onana’s performances.
United made Onana one of the most expensive goalkeepers in history during the summer when he completed a £47m transfer from Inter, reuniting with former Ajax boss Ten Hag in Manchester.
The great hope was that the Cameroonian, who is noted for his ability to play with the ball at his feet, would kick Ten Hag’s United onto a new tactical level in a way that former number one David de Gea could not. But persistent mistakes with his hands have proven a surprise problem.
There was more of that on Wednesday night when a sub-par performance contributed to Galatasaray snatching a 3-3 draw, despite twice trailing by two goals in the game. It has to further questions over Onana’s position and whether back-up Bayindir deserves a chance, having yet to make his debut since arriving from Fenerbahce on summer transfer deadline day.
“We are very happy with our keeper group: Andre, Altay, Tom [Heaton]. As a group, they do really well, they have good performances and they have to push each other,” Ten Hag said.
“We are very pleased with Altay,” the United boss added.
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“He gets used to Premier League, he gets used to European football, which is tough when you are coming from Turkey, but we are very pleased with the process. He is doing very well. He has to be patient but if he works well, if he keeps his progress, he will get his chances and he has to take this.”
Onana has played every United game so far in 2023/24 across the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup. The latter competition is often the domain of secondary goalkeepers – last season, Martin Dubravka and Tom Heaton both got chances in the earlier rounds.
Yet Bayindir, who has been on the bench for every United game, has had to wait.
That could all change in the New Year if Onana goes to the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon. He didn’t play international football for nine months after being sent home from the 2022 World Cup following an alleged falling out with coach Rigobert Song, but was recalled to the squad in September for the final AFCON qualifier and has linked up with the team each month since.
