Manchester United made a lot of tough decisions in the transfer market, and former player Raimond van der Gouw has now told them that they missed the chance they had to sign the ‘perfect’ player.
Broadly, it was a successful transfer window for Man Utd because they managed to address their goalscoring worries splendidly.
The risk remains in central midfield, but Carlos Baleba was just not attainable, and United understandably didn’t want to settle for less.
However, as per Raimond van der Gouw, the perfect player in another position was attainable, but they went for a different player instead.
Argentina national football team's team photo with Emi Martinez as the goalkeeper
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Van der Gouw backed Emi Martinez for Man Utd
United’s deadline day was dominated by a single discussion point – Emi Martinez or Senne Lammens?
Senne Lammens signed for United, but not before a lot of twists and turns that had Martinez looking like the likelier player to sign.
Lammens’ style of play and vast potential have generated excitement, even among insiders at Man Utd, but he’s more of a project player.
On the other hand, Martinez would have given this team an instant boost of quality and confidence, which is why Ruben Amorim favoured his signing as well.
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Count former United goalkeeper Van der Gouw amongst Martinez’s backers over Lammens. Speaking on Talksport, the Dutchman said that Martinez’s ‘crazy’ personality made him perfect for the glare of Old Trafford, adding that he’s a ‘fantastic’ player.
He said: “[Martinez] is a fantastic goalkeeper. He does have the experience, he knows the English league, and he knows what it is to win. Yeah, he’s a little bit crazy sometimes but I think that’s what gives him a certain personality. I thought he would suit perfectly for Man United but they made a different decision.”
Senne Lammens’ challenge at Man Utd
Van der Gouw would know better than most how hard it is to be a Man Utd goalkeeper, and that scrutiny has only intensified with the advent of social media.
In the same interview, he said that Lammens is an exciting player, but he’s about to experience a huge jump in competition magnitude.
He said: “The game for a goalkeeper has changed, the pressure is higher, and I also think that social media does not help for the goalkeeper because everything will be analyzed, and that makes it more difficult.
“First of all, Man United are much bigger. The expectation is bigger and everybody is now looking over their shoulder because the other goalkeepers didn’t do it so well, so he has to do it well, otherwise he will be in trouble.”
Van der Gouw’s point about the goalkeeping position being as much about personality as it is about talent is correct.
However, United would have known the potential growing pains with Lammens, and are clearly comfortable taking that gamble.
Regardless of the noise outside the club around his performances, Lammens will be given ample time and patience to grow into the role.
The best-case scenario is that United have signed a goalkeeper for the next decade. Even in the worst case, they could easily flip him for a profit if it doesn’t work out, because the outlay is not big and age is on his side.
The arguments for signing Martinez over him are correct, but there are plenty of positives around Lammens too.