Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana is reported to have been dropped from their squad for their Premier League match against Newcastle United later today.
This decision by manager Ruben Amorim comes after another poor performance in Europe by the Cameroon goalkeeper where he made mistakes for both goals in a 2-2 draw away at Olympique Lyonnais.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano states that Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir looks set to make his Premier League debut for the Red Devils.
Why has Onana been dropped?
On Thursday night, Onana made a mistake for both of Lyon’s goals which arguably cost the Manchester side a first-leg victory against the seventh-place side in Ligue 1.
For the first goal, the ex-Inter Milan goalkeeper allowed a soft free-kick from Thiago Almada to creep into the goal. This was followed by parrying a shot from Corentin Tolisso straight into the path of French wonderkid Rayan Cherki for a last-minute equaliser.
Prior to the game against Lyon, Onana had been involved in a war of words with ex-Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic. The current United keeper had claimed his side to be “way better” than their opponents.
The Serb retorted that Onana was one of the worst goalkeepers in the history of Manchester United. While it seems the Old Trafford player attempted to neutralise the spat, it may have been the case that his performance was affected by the additional pressure.
Onana has previously made high-profile mistakes for the Manchester club, most notably in the UEFA Champions League where multiple errors could be pointed to as the main reason the club were knocked out of last season’s edition.
Who is Altay Bayindir?
Altay Bayindir is a Turkish goalkeeper who signed at Old Trafford from Istanbul giants Fenerbahce in 2023.
The 26-year-old initially broke through into senior football at TFF Second League club Ankaragucu, playing for the club as they gained two promotions to the Turkish Super Lig.
From there, he joined Fenerbahce and won the starting job ahead of Turkish international Harun Tekin. Whilst playing in Istanbul, he made his debut for the Turkish national side before catching the eye of the Manchester United scouting department.
So far for the Red Devils, he has made seven appearances, all in cup competitions, with six of those coming this season. Most notably, he was the penalty shootout hero of Old Trafford when Man Utd played Arsenal in this season’s FA Cup.
However, it should be noted that he has previously made a high-profile error against Tottenham where he conceded directly from a corner in the 88th minute in United’s 4-3 Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat.
What Next for Onana?
It seems likely that Andre Onana will be recalled to the matchday squad for Manchester United’s second-leg match against Lyon. However, it could be interpreted that manager Ruben Amorim may not be completely happy with his current number-one goalkeeper.
With their relatively new owners and structure at the club, Manchester United could be looking at a summer of change. It may be that Andre Onana is one of those changes.