Manchester United have “thoroughly investigated” a new goalkeeper, who could join the club after it was confirmed Andre Onana would miss pre-season with an injury.
Manchester United’s goalkeeper position has been a problem since before Rúben Amorim joined the club; in fact, it began in the days of Ole Gunnar Solskjær when Dean Henderson came through to the first team.
David de Gea was the undisputed starting shotstopper for a long time, but when Henderson returned from loan, he deserved and demanded first-team football, Solskjær kept both goalkeepers at the club, and both dipped in form.
Erik ten Hag stuck with de Gea for his opening campaign, but chose to move the Spaniard on after 12 years at Old Trafford, signing Andre Onana after his impressive performance in the Champions League final against Manchester City.
Onana struggled from the outset, especially in the Champions League, but he went into last season as the starting shotstopper, with Altay Bayindir his deputy, who had played just once against Newport County.
Going into next season, Rúben Amorim looks set to lose Bayindir as he wants to play more football, and Onana has suffered an injury that will see him miss most, if not all, of pre-season. Tom Heaton, who has recently agreed a new one-year deal, and Radek Vitek go into pre-season as the most obvious replacements.
United eyeing move for Lammens
With Onana injured and Bayındır set for a move, a new goalkeeper is needed sooner rather than later if Amorim wants to look outside the club to solve the problem, rather than relying on options already at the club.
One option for Jason Wilcox and the recruitment team is Royal Antwerp’s Senne Lammens, but the Belgian shotstopper is also subject to interest from Leeds United and Sunderland this summer and has been touted as the “only answer” to Onana’s injury.
Gazet van Antwerpen have reported that United have “already thoroughly investigated” Lammens and are keeping his rumoured fee is expected to be just under £20 million, an affordable fee in an expensive summer for the Red Devils.
Antwerp have made it clear they want to sell Lammens – sporting director Marc Overmars recently said: “The transfer of Senne Lammens has to happen, because we’ve already signed his replacement. We’d rather not see a Butez-Lammens scenario again. Senne is our most sought-after player. There are plenty of clubs ready to make a move.”
Antwerp and United are clubs that have done lots of business in the past; in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, United had a loan agreement which saw several young players head on loan to the Belgian side, including Jonny Evans.
Could Vitek make the step up?
Another option to solve the Onana injury problem would be to trust United’s exciting young goalkeeper Vitek, who recently returned to Old Trafford after a successful loan spell in Austria.
The 6’6 shotstopper played 28 times for BW Linz as they narrowly missed out on European football last season, and he could be given a chance to replace Onana while the Cameroonian is out injured.
Vitek has been subject to interest from several clubs this summer, including Championship side Millwall, but it’s not yet known where he will be playing next season, so why not give him a chance?
Another alternative would be Elyh Harrison, the current under-21s goalkeeper who was involved in several first-team matchday squads last season. However, this pre-season could come too soon for the former Stevenage academy talent.
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