Manchester United decided to sign Senne Lammens on deadline day to strengthen in goal after the terrible performances of Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.
The Cameroonian was solely responsible for United’s humiliating exit from the EFL Cup at the hands of League Two side Grimsby Town.
Ruben Amorim, fed up with the ex-Inter Milan ace’s mistakes, opted to start the Turkiye international in all three Premier League games so far.
Safe to say, he has not covered himself in glory, committing errors in all three games. This explains why INEOS were desperate for reinforcements on deadline day.
Goalkeeping mistakes galore
There was talk of a move for Emiliano Martinez, but Jadon Sancho’s refusal to join Aston Villa permanently meant a swap deal never materialised.
As a result, the Red Devils opted to move for Senne Lammens, even though there are concerns over whether his form for Royal Antwerp can translate to the Premier League.
United’s next game right after the international break is the Manchester derby, and it could not get much tougher in terms of the opposition.
As per The Mirror, Amorim has quite the conundrum to solve — whether to opt for Onana or Bayindir, both of whom are aware of City’s talents, or whether to throw the Belgian straight into the deep end.
The report suggests the head coach does not want to take that extreme step. Whatever he chooses, criticism is likely to follow in case of a poor result.
“Throwing Lammens into the heat of a Manchester derby for his Premier League debut is a risky move, one sources close to Amorim say the United head coach is unlikely to be willing to make.
Lammens risk
“If Amorim was to start Lammens at City and the young keeper makes a mistake, Amorim would be criticised for not having given him time to settle and adapt to his new environment.
“That leaves Onana and Bayindir, both of whom have made high-profile errors already this season, but who will know what to expect at City, in a game neither Manchester side can afford to lose, after such poor starts to the new campaign.
“Against that backdrop, Amorim is damned if he does select Lammens and that decision backfires, and damned if he doesn’t, if whoever gets the nod from error-prone duo Onana and Bayindir gets the call and drops another clanger.”
The United players have reportedly rallied in favour of Tom Heaton getting a game following his impressive form in training.
A huge week awaits Amorim and the goalkeeping contingent.
Feature image Octavio Passos via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
