Rio Ferdinand has made up his mind on who he wants Manchester United to sign between Senne Lammens and Emi Martínez.
Manchester United are pushing to bring in a new goalkeeper before the summer transfer window closes, with doubts lingering over André Onana and Altay Bayındır, though the identity of their target is still uncertain.
Talks with Royal Antwerp for Senne Lammens have been ongoing, but progress has stalled, with a free transfer and personal terms yet to be finalised.
With Rúben Amorim keen to reinforce his options between the posts, reports on Sunday revealed that United had reignited their pursuit of Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martínez, who is said to be eager to join the Old Trafford side.
Although a loan bid for the Argentina international was turned down earlier in the summer, United have now reached an agreement with Martínez on personal terms and are working to strike a deal with Villa.
Ferdinand likes the Martínez signing
Lammens and Martínez are two very different transfers. While the former is a young, 23-year-old shot-stopper with a lot of potential, the latter is a Premier League-proven and experienced goalkeeper, which is more the route United have headed down this summer.
Speaking on his YouTube Channel, former United defender Rio Ferdinand reacted to the rumours. “Martínez, World Cup-winning goalkeeper. Definitive moment in a World Cup final. Loads of big games and had to play in them. Wow. He’s a good goalkeeper,” the 46-year-old explained.
Ferdinand went on to discuss Onana’s decline in form over recent seasons, and also compared Martínez’s potential signing to the availability of Lammens and Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, concluding that Martínez was the best of the three.
“[Onana’s problems] shows you how quickly things can change and form and lack of confidence can really affect things. And Martínez’s confidence has done that. Onana’s has done that while he’s been at Manchester United.
“But I think a lot of people are talking about Martínez, Lammens is the other young 23-year-old goalkeeper they’ve been talking about making that again. Or Donnarumma, people have been saying.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, if they got Martínez out of them three, I’d be absolutely fine and happy with it, Martínez.”
United’s goalkeeper needs to back their mentality
Over the last few seasons, it has become increasingly clear that whoever is in goal for United must possess a strong mentality and resilience. Still, they must also back this up with good performances.
Onana’s problem has been that, while he has shown himself to be mentally strong and confident, he has, far too often, then made mistakes on the field, which has led to a fair amount of distrust.
If United are to sign Matinez, he undoubtedly has the charisma, stature, and command to fix many of Amorim’s immediate issues in goal, although he also made his fair share of mistakes last season.
Martínez has the mentality to play in goal for United in a very high-pressure environment, but at the same time, he must ensure he can maintain confidence to prevent mistakes from leaking through the club’s defence.
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