This particular situation is not a head scratcher. It is unnecessary. It is totally pathetic. United's attempt to hold onto their primary goalkeeper is nothing but a selfish choice. It would be understandable if he was invincible. This would involve conceding very few goals and not being mistake prone.
This is further from the truth. Although he's tied for 3rd in terms of clean sheets in the league, that doesn't tell the full story. In games when goals have been scored against him, it has generally been more than one. There have been instances of shock losses to teams that they were expected to beat. To add insult to injury, these results occured on their own home turf.
The Champions League is an ideal evidence that this whole thing is a mess. The team surrended an embarring 15 goals in 6 games. This is the most conceded by any Premier League side - according to Opta. This included an Onana handling mistake that cost what could have been another memberable result against Bayern Munich. Another factor was the fact that United lost matches even after being in a winning position. They had let slip two goal cushions.
There is no injury crisis that will in no way substantiate this whole affair. The back up goalkeeper is no rookie. Altay Bayindir is a very capable and dare I say, equal substitute. He has played internationally for Turkey. This involved making key saves against Germany. He has not been given any chances. Ten Hag hass claimed that he first needs to acclimatize before getting his chance. In my view, his time has finally arrived.
Ten Hag has been known to give youngsters chances. However, this is not accurate to goalkeepers in my opinion. Even after the results and errors, he persists with Onana and continues to leave Bayindir out in the cold.
Seeing as how things are unfolding, Ten Hag might as well have said when signing Onana, "This is my one and only. This is the one constant. There is no need for a back up goalkeeper."
From my vantage point, it is about time to start afresh with a "new" goalkeeper. Release Onana for international duty and allow Bayindir to show his skills and abilities.