Ben Foster has questioned Manchester United’s transfer move for Senne Lammens and believes the club should be targeting a more established goalkeeper like Gianluigi Donnarumma or Emiliano Martinez.
United’s goalkeeping situation has once again become a hot topic of conversation across the club’s difficult start to the season, with Altay Bayindir given the nod against both Arsenal and Fulham.
It was Bayindir’s mistake which led to Riccardo Calafiori’s winner in United’s defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford and the Turk’s struggles – particularly in dealing with set-pieces – continued against Fulham at the weekend.
Andre Onana returned from injury to be named amongst United’s substitutes in United’s draw at Craven Cottage and there have been some calls for the Cameroon international to reinstated in Ruben Amorim’s starting XI.
But Onana appears to have run out of chances after two error-strewn seasons at the Theatre of Dreams and Royal Antwerp shot-stopper Lammens, 23, is being lined up as his long-term replacement.
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Lammens has reportedly agreed personal terms with the Red Devils and it’s understood an offer in the region of £20m would be enough to capture the Belgian.
‘I agree [that Bayindir isn’t the answer],’ former United ‘keeper Foster said on his Ben Foster – The Cycling GK YouTube channel.
‘I thought Bayindir got very lucky on a couple of occasions when corners went into the box and I’m thinking: any time they get the chance to stick it into the box, they’re just going to stick it on Bayindir and they’ll have somebody marking him, standing on him, they’re just going to bully him out the way and put it in the back of the net.
‘They should have scored early doors as well. Muniz had that chance where it came all the way across and missed his header and I thought, “You’ve [Bayindir] got away with murder!”
‘They’ve been linked with a £25m move for the Royal Antwerp goalie Lammens.
‘I watched a little highlights reel of him on YouTube. He looks okay, I still don’t think it’s the answer.’
Foster has previously encouraged United to pursue one of Donnarumma of Martinez in the transfer market – and the ex-England international once again emphasised the importance of bringing in an assured presence between the sticks.
He added: ‘If you’re Manchester United then you need to be signing a Donnarumma or a Martinez because that’s the difference. There’s a difference in level.
‘He [Lammens] looks like he’s a decent young goalkeeper but I just think to go and pluck someone from Royal Antwerp and expect them to be able to a world-class goalkeeper in the Premier League for Manchester United, it’s a miracle if you get it.’
Throughout Bayindir’s tough start to the campaign, Amorim has been reluctant to single out the Turkey international for criticism.
Instead, the United head coach called on United’s team as a collective to ‘grow up’ in the wake of their disappointing performance at Fulham.
‘We have to grow up a lot as a team,’ Amorim told reporters.
‘For me, the most important thing is that during the week they were working really hard.
‘Today, we worked really hard, and we are going to improve. The moment that changed the game was our goal.’
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