Ruben Amorim says Cunha, Mount and Dalot are all out of the derby, Bayindir will start

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says Altay Bayindir will start in the next game, rather than new signing Senne Lammens.

The goalkeeping situation

Amorim was speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Manchester derby, which takes place at 4.30pm on Sunday. He was first asked about the new signing, Senne Lammens.

“Sometimes you as a club you try to see different options, one or another. We have an option that can give us different things in the moment, but also has a great potential to be our goalkeeper for a number of years.

“We are really pleased, he is a goalkeeper with a lot of potential. We are in the moment that the goalkeeper needs to be really strong and have a lot of experience, but we also have to look at the present with a focus on the future so it is a bit of both. He will be ready.”

Asked who will play in goal against City, Amorim replied:

“Altay is going to continue. Because it’s a different league, different country, different training, different ball. So they will fight for the position.”

It is a great show of faith in Bayindir, one reporter commented.

“I think sometimes to connect with Andre,” Amorim replied. “Andre Onana did a very good season in Inter, the quality is there but in the club sometimes things is getting harder and harder but in this club the pressure is so hard in every detail sometimes you need a change. I believe in Altay, he is ready to play.

“I wish the best for Andre Onana, he was really good on working with players. You can have all the quality in the world but sometimes you need to change environment to return to your level. That was the feeling from us but also Andre.”

Injury Update

On the injuries to Matheus Cunha, Mason Mount and Diogo Dalot, he said:

“They are out for this game, I don’t know how long it’s going to take. We need these guys to be a competitive team. We have very good players, who are eager to play, so we will be competitive on Sunday. But they are out.”

Asked how long the trio will be missing for, the boss replied:

“I don’t want to say. If you talk to Cunha outside, he will say he can play this game. They are pushing really hard.”

Manchester City

On Sunday’s opposition, Amorim said:

“It’s a top team with the best coach in the league, a team that is really hard to imagine how they are going to play. We are prepared for that and we believe in our team. It will be a very good game, we know what to do, we have more training, and the table at the moment doesn’t matter.”

He was asked if he felt his team had improved since they won at the Etihad last season and replied “I think we are a better team, if you see any aspects of the data, we are a better team. We are ready to play the game, but we need to show it on Sunday.”

On his friendship with Hugo Viana, he said: “It has no influence. We have different jobs, we have different clubs. We have dinner all the time. We don’t talk about football. I’m red, he’s blue. We are really, really close friends, that will not change. I hope to win Sunday, that’s it.”

With Kobbie Mainoo now the only home-grown academy player in the squad, Amorim was asked about the possibility that the proud tradition of having such a player in the squad might end.

“We want to maintain that, I don’t want to be the guy to break that record, that idea. If you see the past of Manchester United, that should be our goal in the future, so we should try maintain that for sure.

Finally, he was asked what he did during the international break.

“I did everything. I watched a lot of games. I tried to understand different things. I talked to Jason [Wilcox], I talked to Omar [Berrada] to anticipate scenarios. The market. I tried to do everything in this kind of break to prepare for the future.”

The second section of the presser is embargoed until tomorrow evening at 10.30pm, and will be covered here on The Peoples Person.

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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