The Red Devils are pushing to sign the Royal Antwerp shot-stopper amid continued concerns over Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir's competency
"There is a glaring issue for Manchester United that cannot be ignored and that is they need to find a new goalkeeper. They have to, I am absolutely unequivocal on that," Red Devils legend Gary Neville told Sky Sports after seeing an awful error from Altay Bayindir gift Arsenal a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.
"It is really unsettling when you don’t have a dominant No.1 who owns his six-yard box, who comes and punches everything and makes saves to save you points when your defenders make mistakes. They need to sort the goalkeeper out as they will continue to concede goals and points and it undermines what they are doing."
Despite that mistake, Bayindir also got the nod in goal for United in their 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday, with Andre Onana left on the bench. Head coach Ruben Amorim stuck with Onana as the club's first-choice goalkeeper initially after arriving at Old Trafford last November, but the calamitous Cameroonian is no longer a guaranteed starter, having been just as unreliable as he was under Erik ten Hag throughout 2023-24.
For the time being, Amorim has decided that Bayindir is the lesser of two evils, with 39-year-old Tom Heaton still seen as nothing more than a back-up option, but Neville is absolutely right: United cannot progress until they sign a new No.1. Fortunately, work is being done behind the scenes to address the most glaring issue in the squad.
The Old Trafford recruitment team has honed in on 23-year-old Royal Antwerp 'keeper Senne Lammens, who was left out of his team's latest Belgian top-flight game against Mechelen after reportedly agreeing personal terms with United. According to The Guardian, Lammens is set to complete a £17 million ($23m) move to Manchester before the summer window slams shut on September 1.
That will be a very small price to pay if he solves the club's long-standing crisis between the sticks. Below, GOAL assesses whether the undeniably talented Lammens is truly up to that daunting task...