Pundit questions summer signing decision

Man United made four significant signings in the summer, with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens all arriving at Old Trafford. However, questions have been asked about whether these additions are enough to turn around their fortunes from last season.

Lammens will be Man United’s new starting goalkeeper, with Andre Onana leaving for Trabzonspor and Altay Bayindir sticking around to be his backup. The 23-year-old is highly-regarded at Old Trafford, but not everyone believes that he is a good signing.

Man United decision to sign Semme Lammens questioned

Speaking to ESPN (via TEAMtalk), Craig Burley has questioned Man United’s decision to sign Lammens, stating that he believes the wrong goalkeeper target was signed.

“(Onana) looked the real deal when he was in Italy. I thought he was going to come in and have a Schmeichel-esque aura about him. Remember, he was bossing about Harry Maguire, and he had a go at him.

“If this young lad from Belgium comes in and is flapping about all over the place, it’s going to be a mess, isn’t it? Altay Bayindir, they can’t play him. He might be okay at shot-stopping, but he’s absolutely useless at balls into the box.

“The lad who has come in needs to be able to communicate, marshal a back four, be good with the ball at his feet, make saves, and he needs to have authority and make a statement when teams are rattling the ball into the box. That is what every team will do now, they’re going to pile it on into this goalkeeper.

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“He’s going to sink or swim. They went halfway down the road to Martinez at Villa, and I think that would have been the perfect scenario because he’s got arrogance. But they’ve gone the other route again, and we’ve no idea how the young lad is going to handle the scenario.”

It remains to be seen how Lammens gets on at Man United, but he will certainly be expected to perform better than Onana and Bayindir have over the last couple of seasons.