The concept of optimism is an increasingly foreign one within the Manchester United fanbase, and there certainly would not have been much expectation from supporters that Altay Bayindir might prove to be the solution to the club’s defensive problems.
After all, if Bayindir was truly ready to overtake André Onana as United’s primary goalkeeper, he would have done so long before now. Indeed, so pronounced have been Onana’s struggles that his ongoing selection has said just as much about Bayindir as it has about the Cameroon international.
In Sunday’s thrashing at Newcastle United, Bayindir effectively proved why Ruben Amorim – and Erik ten Hag before him – had remained so loyal to Onana, despite his numerous mistakes. On his Premier League debut, made after Amorim finally withdrew Onana from the firing line, Bayindir picked the ball out of his net four times.
For Bayindir, the fourth of those goals was undoubtedly the worst, a botched attempt to chip the ball down the centre of the pitch, allowing Bruno Guimarães to score a simple goal. Questions will also be asked of the goalkeeper’s positioning for Newcastle’s second, scored by Harvey Barnes while Bayindir was effectively behind his own goal-line.
Altay Bayındır’s ball is intercepted by Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães is there to finish it off 🎯 pic.twitter.com/FpKEAI75uR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2025
The Turkish international’s distribution was poor, too. Overall he completed only 27 of his attempted 57 passes against Newcastle, an accuracy rate of just 47 per cent. No other player on the pitch achieved less than 60 per cent pass completion.
Sadly for Bayindir, who has now made seven appearances in all competitions for United this season, the mistake for Newcastle’s fourth goal was not his first eye-catching error of the campaign. Against Tottenham Hotspur in December, he was beaten directly from a corner. To make matters worse on that occasion, he was then booked for complaining to the referee about it.
The evidence of these performances, combined with Amorim’s reluctance to drop Onana until now, would strongly suggest that Bayindir is not the long-term solution to United’s increasingly pressing goalkeeping problem. The option of flipping the pecking order, or handing the starting role to Bayindir on a permanent basis, does not appear to be viable.
All of which leaves United with two options. One, stand by Onana and hope he can finally eradicate the sort of mistakes that were so costly against Lyon in midweek. Two, address the situation in the transfer market. The problem with the latter course of action is that United paid significant money (almost £50 million) to sign Onana in July 2023 and they will not get much of that back if they tried to sell him now.
Can United afford to firstly buy another top-level goalkeeper to work alongside Onana, and secondly to have two goalkeepers on “first-choice” wages? Given their much-discussed financial limitations, such a plan would be perilously difficult to execute.
For Amorim, this situation has now become one of his most urgent issues. Since his first game in charge, only Southampton, Spurs and Leicester City have conceded more goals in all competitions among Premier League clubs. The goalkeepers are not to blame for all of those, of course, but no one could reasonably argue that Onana or Bayindir are showing themselves to be the solution to the problem.
It should be noted that Onana has also been contending with off-field issues in recent weeks. Just over a fortnight ago, his wife was the victim of a street robbery that has left his family needing 24-hour protection. It is too easily forgotten by supporters that footballers are human beings whose work is so often affected by events at home.
For Amorim, there are therefore emotional, financial and tactical sensitivities at play – all at once. After changing Onana for Bayindir at Newcastle, he now goes into Thursday’s crucial match against Lyon with two goalkeepers who are badly struggling on the pitch. Neither is playing with confidence. Neither is doing what is required of a United goalkeeper. The long-term solutions are fiddly and potentially expensive, but for now the short-term outlook is even more worrying.
The concept of optimism is an increasingly foreign one within the Manchester United fanbase, and there certainly would not have been much expectation from supporters that Altay Bayindir might prove to be the solution to the club’s defensive problems.
After all, if Bayindir was truly ready to overtake André Onana as United’s primary goalkeeper, he would have done so long before now. Indeed, so pronounced have been Onana’s struggles that his ongoing selection has said just as much about Bayindir as it has about the Cameroon international.
In Sunday’s thrashing at Newcastle United, Bayindir effectively proved why Ruben Amorim – and Erik ten Hag before him – had remained so loyal to Onana, despite his numerous mistakes. On his Premier League debut, made after Amorim finally withdrew Onana from the firing line, Bayindir picked the ball out of his net four times.
For Bayindir, the fourth of those goals was undoubtedly the worst, a botched attempt to chip the ball down the centre of the pitch, allowing Bruno Guimarães to score a simple goal. Questions will also be asked of the goalkeeper’s positioning for Newcastle’s second, scored by Harvey Barnes while Bayindir was effectively behind his own goal-line.
Altay Bayındır’s ball is intercepted by Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães is there to finish it off 🎯 pic.twitter.com/FpKEAI75uR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2025
The Turkish international’s distribution was poor, too. Overall he completed only 27 of his attempted 57 passes against Newcastle, an accuracy rate of just 47 per cent. No other player on the pitch achieved less than 60 per cent pass completion.
Sadly for Bayindir, who has now made seven appearances in all competitions for United this season, the mistake for Newcastle’s fourth goal was not his first eye-catching error of the campaign. Against Tottenham Hotspur in December, he was beaten directly from a corner. To make matters worse on that occasion, he was then booked for complaining to the referee about it.
The evidence of these performances, combined with Amorim’s reluctance to drop Onana until now, would strongly suggest that Bayindir is not the long-term solution to United’s increasingly pressing goalkeeping problem. The option of flipping the pecking order, or handing the starting role to Bayindir on a permanent basis, does not appear to be viable.
All of which leaves United with two options. One, stand by Onana and hope he can finally eradicate the sort of mistakes that were so costly against Lyon in midweek. Two, address the situation in the transfer market. The problem with the latter course of action is that United paid significant money (almost £50 million) to sign Onana in July 2023 and they will not get much of that back if they tried to sell him now.
Can United afford to firstly buy another top-level goalkeeper to work alongside Onana, and secondly to have two goalkeepers on “first-choice” wages? Given their much-discussed financial limitations, such a plan would be perilously difficult to execute.
For Amorim, this situation has now become one of his most urgent issues. Since his first game in charge, only Southampton, Spurs and Leicester City have conceded more goals in all competitions among Premier League clubs. The goalkeepers are not to blame for all of those, of course, but no one could reasonably argue that Onana or Bayindir are showing themselves to be the solution to the problem.
It should be noted that Onana has also been contending with off-field issues in recent weeks. Just over a fortnight ago, his wife was the victim of a street robbery that has left his family needing 24-hour protection. It is too easily forgotten by supporters that footballers are human beings whose work is so often affected by events at home.
For Amorim, there are therefore emotional, financial and tactical sensitivities at play – all at once. After changing Onana for Bayindir at Newcastle, he now goes into Thursday’s crucial match against Lyon with two goalkeepers who are badly struggling on the pitch. Neither is playing with confidence. Neither is doing what is required of a United goalkeeper. The long-term solutions are fiddly and potentially expensive, but for now the short-term outlook is even more worrying.
