Manchester United have snapped up Altay Bayindir with Fenerbahce now being warned that they may live to regret selling him.
United made a big goalkeeping change this summer with David De Gea released at the end of his contract.
Andre Onana came in from Inter Milan, reuniting with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag in the process.
That move certainly made sense and United then had to dip into the market for another goalkeeper before the deadline.
Dean Henderson secured a permanent move to Crystal Palace and United moved to bring in Altay Bayindir as his replacement…
Fenerbahce may ‘regret’ Altay Bayindir sale
Bayindir arrives as second-choice to Onana but will of course have dreams of becoming United’s first-choice goalkeeper.
He arrives at a good age at 25 whilst also being experienced with nearly 150 appearances to his name for Fenerbahce.
A giant stopper at 6ft 6in tall, Bayindir will hope to impress Ten Hag and will be in line to potentially fill in for Onana during the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
One man who knows Bayindir well is Giresunspor technical director Mustafa Kaplan, having previously worked together with Ankaragucu.
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Kaplan has now told Hurriyet that he has been ‘very happy’ with Bayindir’s progress having excelled for a big club like Fenerbahce.
Kaplan adds that he thinks Fenerbahce will now regret selling Bayindir despite fans sometimes having mixed opinions on him, believing that the goalkeeper deserves his move and will play well for United when given the chance.
“He went to Fenerbahçe and played in front of 50 thousand people,” said Kaplan. “He joined a big community and wore the captain’s armband at Fenerbahçe. It made us very happy too. At that time, there were occasional resentments with Fenerbahçe fans. I always told Altay: “You will close your ears and mind your business.”
“When we talked to Altay, they also wanted him in Spain and the Netherlands. Now he went to a big community like Manchester United. So, Altay did the right thing. Fenerbahçe may regret selling Altay in the future. It was very good for Altay, but it is a difficult situation for Fenerbahçe. In my opinion, Altay went to the place he deserved. I believe he will be successful there too. When he gets the jersey there, he will provide good service to Manchester United and our country’s football,” he added.
Bayindir may play over the international break
We have already reached the first international break of the new season, so United players are travelling all across the world.
Bayindir is one of them having been called up by Turkey.
Boss Stefan Kuntz has called up Bayindir alongside Mert Gunok and Ugurcan Cakir – two goalkeepers with more caps than Bayindir.
Turkey will take on Armenia and Japan in the coming days with Bayindir no doubt hoping to add to his five caps with an appearance for his country after securing his big move to United.