Ruben Amorim Must Continue to Start Altay Bayindir Over Andre Onana

Altay Bayindir celebrates
Altay Bayindir celebrates | Carl Recine/GettyImages

Andre Onana has endured a difficult spell at Manchester United since joining the club as David de Gea's replacement in the summer of 2022. The Cameroonian goalkeeper headed to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in a £47.2 million deal but has failed to impress.

There are doubts growing over Onana amid constant mistakes and nervy performances. He was catastrophic in a 3-1 loss to Brighton, fumbling a cross to allow Georginio Rutter to pounce and score his side's third.

Altay Bayindir was United's hero a weekend before, saving two penalties as the Reds knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup at the Emirates. He also made a sensational stop during open play and, questionable kicking aside, it was a man-of-the-match performance.

Ruben Amorim Must Continue With Altay Bayindir

Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim has plenty to consider | Carl Recine/GettyImages

Bayindir returned to the Manchester United XI for a UEFA Europa League clash with Rangers last night (January 23). The Turkish goalkeeper didn't put a foot wrong in a 2-1 win over the Scottish Premiership giants.

The 26-year-old was a commanding prescence between the sticks. The erratic performances of Onana that usually put you on edge isn't the feeling you want as a United fan, especially this season.

Ruben Amorim will also want a reliable shot-stopper for the rest of the campaign and Bayindir is outperforming Onana. He made six saves on the night, per SofaScore, and if he works on his kicking he could be under consideration to permanently take the number one jersey.

Andre Onana Is Walking On Thin Ice

Andre Onana
Andre Onana continues to make mistakes | James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

There were massive expectations on Onana when he joined United. He'd just enjoyed an eye-catching season with Inter, performing extremely well in a 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League final.

Onana has always been known to make the odd mistake and former manager Erik ten Hag knew this from his time coaching the 28-year-old at Ajax. But the consistency of errors since he's joined United have become indefensible.

He has three years left on his contract but speculation is growing over the club swooping for a new shot-stopper. The long-term target, Zion Suzuki, is back on the agenda, and the Parma goalkeeper could spend around £40 million.

There are other areas of Amorim's squad that need addressing but he needs a man between the sticks who he can rely on. Onana is most certainly not the long-term answer for the Portuguese coach.