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Altay Bayindir says he is “just waiting” for a chance to feature for Manchester United after finding minutes hard to come by last season.
The Turkish goalkeeper has only played one competitive match for United since joining the club last summer, featuring in the 4-2 FA Cup victory at Newport County in January.
The Reds face Barnsley in the Carabao Cup tonight, and Bayindir is expected to start for his first appearance at Old Trafford.
The 26-year-old told United Review, via the club’s official website, that he is “working hard at the training ground” but that this is an entirely different proposition to competitive action.
“They are two different things. You can work hard and do everything on the training ground but you need to show yourself in the game,” he said. “It’s more important because, if you will show yourself in the game, everyone can see it.”
It’s hard not to have sympathy for Bayindir, who quite possibly paid the price for the shaky form of first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana last season.
The Cameroonian had a tumultuous first campaign at United, and found himself under intense pressure following some catastrophic errors.
Manager Erik ten Hag opted to stick with Onana at almost every opportunity, allowing him ample game time to recover from his mistakes and to avoid any suggestion of dropping him.
Bayindir’s comments suggest he won’t be happy playing such a bit-part role forever: “I didn’t get a long time of chances last year, I was just playing one game.
“And it is not enough for my personality but, in life, anything can happen. You just need to be focused. You need to work hard and everything can change in this life.”
During the summer transfer window, he was said to be unhappy and was linked with a move to Celtic.
That move never materialised, and now Bayindir looks set to knuckle down at Old Trafford. “You need to be ready for every game because, in the year, we have a lot of games and it doesn’t matter what you did,” he added.
“You can play bad, it’s finished. You can play good, it’s also finished. Next step, next step, next step always. I’m thinking like this and I will work hard always.”
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