Ruben Amorim may have already admitted defeat on new Man United signing as replacement pursuit ramps up
Ruben Amorim looks to have already given up on a Man United summer capture as the club aim to try and sign a high-profile player in their position soon.
Man United have endured a mixed start to the season under Ruben Amorim, with the club currently sitting 11th in the Premier League following a recent win against Chelsea.
The Red Devils mainly focused their efforts on bolstering Amorim’s forward line in the summer window, with Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko all arriving before their goalkeeping situation was addressed towards the deadline.
Man United agreed a deal to sign Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp late on in the summer, and they accelerated a move for the 23-year-old on deadline day to provide competition to Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.
Onana was then allowed to leave Man United to join Turkish side Trabzonspor, but Lammens is yet to usurp Bayindir from his number one position, and he already may not be fancied by Amorim following a new development.
Ruben Amorim’s Senne Lammens capture not enough
United had to make changes to their goalkeeping department in the summer after a tough 2024-25 season for both Onana and Bayindir.
Onana was hounded by Man United fans on numerous occasions, as he only kept 11 clean sheets in 50 appearances in all competitions, and Bayindir was hardly any better as he failed to become first-choice in either the Premier League or Europa League.
United moved to bring 23-year-old Lammens for an initial fee of £18.2million [Sky Sports] late on in the window to provide fresh impetus to Amorim’s squad, but Bayindir has still been handed starts in each of their two games since his arrival.
Lammens is young and inexperienced, especially for a goalkeeper, and is yet to play in a top-five European league, so whether he is the confident, ready-made number one that the club clearly need is unclear right now.
He is clearly highly-rated and has good potential, but has never played at a higher standard than the Belgian Pro League, nor played on the senior international stage, yet there will be a lot of pressure on his shoulders to instantly improve the Red Devils this season.
Man United targeting Mike Maignan
According to a new report from talkSPORT (23 September), United have joined Chelsea in keeping tabs on AC Milan stopper Mike Maignan, with Amorim believed to be pushing for a more experienced number one than Lammens.
Maignan’s contract with the Serie A giants ends next summer, so the Red Devils may look to sign him for a cut-price fee in January to solve their goalkeeping woes.
The 29-year-old has been a regular at the top-end of Serie A and in the Champions League for a number of years now, helping Milan to the league title in 2022, while he was named in the Euro 2024 Team of the Tournament for his impressive exploits with France last summer.
He kept 15 clean sheets in 53 appearances last season, and his outstanding experience and nous would undoubtedly see him become Amorim’s number one keeper if he was to move to Old Trafford in either of the next two transfer windows.
His arrival would leave Lammens as back-up, despite many expecting to seriously challenge for and become United’s first-choice in-between the sticks, and it is clear that Amorim may already have figured out that he is not up to that challenge at this point in his career.