‘I respect the manager’s decision but…’: Forgotten Utd man discloses he has voiced playing time concerns to Ten Hag

After signing from Fenerbache on deadline day 2023, Altay Bayindir has endured an underwhelming Manchester United tenure thus far.

The goalkeeper signed on a £4.3 million deal, at the time boasting 166 career appearances and 53 clean sheets when he arrived from his native Turkey on a four-year deal.

Given that the board had just sanctioned Andre Onana’s transfer from Inter Milan for £47.2m, Bayindir would’ve been well aware that he was not bought to be Erik ten Hag’s first choice between the sticks. Acquisitions were crucial in the goalkeeping department that summer as United had just bid farewell to David de Gea, Dean Henderson, Nathan Bishop, Matej Kovar and Ondrej Mastny, all of whom embarked on new ventures away from Old Trafford.

As such, Bayindir was pursued to play second-fiddle to Onana, yet even he couldn’t have anticipated just how little he’d play since then. 

For most clubs, certainly those across the top flight, your backup shot-stopper is almost always utilised in cup competitions. That wasn’t the case for Bayindir, though. 

He was made to wait four months before being granted his maiden outing in a fourth-round FA Cup tie against Newport County, and it’s largely thought that he was only called upon because Onana had just partaken in the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon. 

Bayindir voices concerns over his game time in private Ten Hag conversation

That match would become Bayindir’s only appearance of 2023/2024, with his counterpart restored to the starting XI for the subsequent matches and FA Cup ties – which, of course, United went on to win. 

The 26-year-old was, perhaps surprisingly, granted a rare appearance this term when the side overturned Barnsley 7-0 in the third round of the Carabao Cup last month, therefore notching his first clean sheet as a Red.

Now, as he prepares to reunite with his former teammates when United take on Fenerbache in Istanbul on Thursday, Bayindir has revealed that he’s addressed his lack of playing time with Ten Hag.

“I was happy when I was paired with Fenerbache [in the Europa League],” he told TRT, as cited by Manchester World. “Only one match is played, either at home or away. It seems strange to me to call this an away game. Actually, it doesn’t seem like an away game to me. I will just be in a different dressing room. I left Fenerbahçe in a good way. Our fans will welcome me in a good way.

“I had a conversation with manager Erik ten Hag about not playing for Manchester United. I always respect the manager’s decision, but I will do everything to play. I’m just focusing on the pitch.”

Elsewhere, one report claimed last week that Ten Hag ‘ignored’ Bayindir for a whole fortnight after he made the move to Manchester. Instead, he worked only with the goalkeeping coaches before being introduced to his manager after two weeks at the club.