Altay Bayindir will retain his place in goal for Manchester United in Sunday’s derby against neighbours City – but head coach Ruben Amorim says new arrival Senne Lammens has potential to be first choice “for a number of years”.
United signed Lammens, 23, for £18.1m from Belgium top-flight club Royal Antwerp on deadline day in preference to World Cup winner Emi Martinez, who was ready to leave Aston Villa.
With Andre Onana leaving for Turkish outfit Trabzonspor on loan, it has created uncertainty over the status Amorim’s current number one.
Bayindir has started all three Premier League games so far this season – making mistakes that led to goals against Arsenal and Burnley – and will retain the job at Etihad Stadium.
However, Amorim thinks Lammens offers plenty of promise.
“He has great potential to be our goalkeeper for a number of years,” he said.
“Sometimes as a club, you try to see different options. We are in a moment where the goalkeeper needs to be really strong and have a lot of experience.
“But as well as looking at the present, we must have a focus on the future.”
Although Bayindir, 27, only made his Premier League debut in April, he has played 10 times for Turkey and has vastly more experience than Lammens, who had had just one season as a top-flight regular.
It makes the decision to let Bayindir continue relatively straightforward.
“It is a different league, different country, different ball,” said Amorim. “Altay is going to continue.”
Onana has more experience than anyone else, including winning a Serie A title with Inter Milan and playing in a Champions League final defeat by Manchester City in 2023.
Yet at United, the Cameroon international has not looked confident.
He was injured at the start of pre-season training this summer and made mistakes that led to both Grimsby goals as United lost to a fourth-tier outfit for the first time in the EFL Cup last month, beaten on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
That game proved to be the end for Onana. He is unlikely to return to the club once his loan expires at the end of the season, even though his United contract runs to 2028.
“The quality is there but at this club the pressure is so hard in every detail, sometimes you need a change,” said Amorim.
“It’s hard to point why. It’s the performance, the moments, the bad luck. It is hard on him and hard on us.
“I wish the best for Andre but sometimes, you can have all the quality in the world but you need to change the environment to return to your level.
“That was the feeling, not just from us, but also from Andre.”
Three out for the derby
Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha and Diogo Dalot will all miss the trip to Etihad Stadium through injury, Amorim said.
Cunha picked up a hamstring injury in the first half of the 3-2 win against Burnley on 30 August, when Mount failed to reappear for the second period. Dalot pulled out of Portugal’s World Cup qualifiers this month after experiencing muscular discomfort.
Amorim was reluctant to be specific as to how long the trio would be out for.
“I don’t want to say,” he said. “If you talk with Cunha [now] he will say he can play this game, so I don’t know. We will manage day by day but they are all out for this game.”
Amorim wants to preserve proud academy record
Manchester United have had at least one graduate from their academy in every first-team matchday squad since 1937.
That is an impressive record and one the club use to prove their commitment to youth development.
Yet Kobbie Mainoo was the only academy player in Ruben Amorim’s squad for the win against Burnley immediately before the international break and the England midfielder went into the last days of the transfer window having told United he wanted a loan move away.
That request was not granted. But without Mainoo, for whatever reason, that record is in peril.
There are other players who fit the bill; including veteran goalkeeper Tom Heaton and young defender Tyler Fredericson.
Amorim has to deliver a winning team – but would only wreck the record if he has no choice.
“We want to maintain it,” he said. “The past of Manchester United is built on kids.
“I don’t want to be the guy that breaks that.”
