Manchester United’s curtain-raiser, despite the positive display, finished in a 1-0 defeat to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal – and, in the wake of the loss at Old Trafford, former Red Devils striker-turned-pundit Wayne Rooney has implored Ruben Amorim and Co to go out and splash the cash on a £210,000-per-week earner.
Latching onto a loose ball at the far post, Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori opened and closed the scoring on Sunday afternoon – but, despite a whole host of shots on goal (22 compared to Arsenal’s nine), the Red Devils couldn’t score.
It was an almost familiar story to last season in terms of Amorim’s men struggling to find the back of the net – but this time around, the chances were being made. It was, instead, a case of not scoring; but that was perhaps thanks to David Raya being exceptional.
Rooney Implores Amorim to Buy £40 Million-Worth Star
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney
All in all, those associated with the Old Trafford outfit can be pleased with the performance: Arsenal ran out of ideas going forward; Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha performed well and, for once, the Red Devils controlled large parts of a game against a side that reside in the traditional top six.
That said, Altay Bayindir is still coming under scrutiny for his performance – and most notably, his part to play in Arsenal’s goal. The Turk was entrusted by Amorim and Co to start ahead of an injured Andre Onana, but he failed to deal with Declan Rice’s inswinging corner in the 13th minute.
William Saliba was tight to the 27-year-old, who weakly palmed Rice’s delivery into the path of Calafiori, who, of course, headed home. And, although Amorim was defiant over his decision to start Bayindir over Tom Heaton, there is a concern over whether the club’s goalkeeping department is strong enough.
altay bayindir
Speaking on ‘The Wayne Rooney Show’, the former United talisman said: “Yeah, I think it has to be. I go back to when we had Roy Carroll and Tim Howard in goal – I don’t think there was 100% trust from the defenders in front of them two goalkeepers.”
“But the minute [Edwin] van der Sar comes in and calms everything down, the defenders trust him a lot more. [Andre] Onana’s come in, he’s a fantastic keeper but he certainly didn’t fill us with confidence last season,” he continued.
As a result, Rooney believes that Paris Saint-Germain outcast Gianluigi Donnarumma – who earned £210,000-per-week in the French capital – should be at the top of the club’s goalkeeper shopping list if they are to make waves this season.
“I think with Donnarumma, he’s 26, he’s one of the best keepers in the world. It’d be crazy if Man Utd don’t go in for him.”
Gary Neville, who was lucky enough to have Peter Schmeichel between the sticks, is of the same belief. “There’s a glaring issue for Manchester United that can’t be ignored and that is that they do need to find a goalkeeper. I’m absolutely unequivocal on that,” the former Red Devils and England defender said, per The Metro. “It’s really unsettling when you don’t have a really dominant No. 1."
"You need someone to own their six-yard box, to make a lot of saves, to come and punch everything and save you points when your defenders make mistakes. That needs to be sorted either with a permanent signing or a loan. The two that you look at that have been mentioned in the last few weeks are Martinez and Donnarumma.”