Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 08:52• Yanick Vos • Last update: 09:03

Ajax has a crush on Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, reports photo mac Saturday. According to the Turkish sports website, a delegation of the team from Amsterdam was in the stands at the match between Fenerbahçe and Giresunspur last Thursday to watch the 23-year-old Turkish goalkeeper in action. English and French clubs are also interested in the closing item.

Director of football affairs Marc Overmars brought two new goalkeepers to Ajax last summer, Remko Pasveer and Jay Gorter. Just like Maarten Stekelenburg (39) Pasveer (37) is heading towards the end of his career, while Gorter, with his 21 years in the Kitchen Champion Division, is being prepared for the big job. It is expected that André Onana will leave Amsterdam after this season, so a new goalkeeper seems more than welcome. Reportedly, Ajax ended up with Turkish international Bayindir.

According to reports, two Ajax scouts were in the stands in Istanbul last Thursday. They saw Fenerbahçe win the match 2-1 with goals from Ferdi Kadioglu and Mesut Ozil. Bayindir was under the bar for ninety minutes and was unable to prevent Souleymane Doukara’s goal just before time. With the win, Fenerbahçe climbed to fifth place in the ranking. It is not inconceivable that an Ajax delegation was present in Istanbul; next Tuesday, the team of coach Erik ten Hag will face Besiktas in the group stage of the Champions League.

Bayindir played in the youth academy of various clubs, before finally breaking through at Ankaragücü. In the summer of 2019, he made the switch to Fenerbahçe for an amount of 1.5 million euros. He conquered a starting place and came into the picture with the national team of Turkey. The now fired national coach Senol Günes brought him into the selection for the first time last year, made his debut earlier this year in the friendly international against Azerbaijan (2-1 win) and took him to the European Championship. The counter has now reached two international matches for Bayindir, whose contract in Istanbul runs until mid-2023. His market value is increased by Transfermarkt estimated at fourteen million euros.