Manchester United have verbally agreed a loan deal for Andre Onana, and a report has apparently suggested which of Altay Bayindir and Senne Lammens will now start in goal for the Red Devils.
Four goalkeepers are not available, and that is the situation Manchester United found themselves in after the signing of Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp. Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton are all on the books, and at 23, the new signing is the youngest of them all.
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Onana has had a flawed two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, and his miserable performance in the League Cup exit against Grimsby Town suggested that lessons have not been learned.
Bayindir, on the other hand, was responsible for Arsenal’s winning goal on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
It was clear that Manchester United had to act, and the arrival of Lammens has now triggered the potential departure of Onana.
The Turkish transfer window remains open until September 12, and at X, Fabrizio Romano revealed that a deal has been struck with Trabzonspor.
“Trabzonspor have reached a verbal agreement with Manchester United to sign Andre Onana on loan,” the reliable reporter wrote.
“Club-to-club verbal agreement in place, and the final decision now lies with Onana. It only depends on the goalkeeper.”
A follow-up from Ben Jacobs revealed that Onana is now seriously considering that loan transfer.
“Understand that Andre Onana is now seriously considering leaving Manchester United for Trabzonspor on loan,” Jacobs wrote on social media.
“Onana was originally determined to stay, but a move to Turkey may now be possible. Manchester United are waiting for Onana’s decision.”
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A recent report from The Athletic stated that Lammens was signed with a view to competing for the starting spot from day one.
Significantly, the report mentioned Onana as his primary competitor for the starting spot, leaving Bayindir out of the conversation.
As such, it appears that the battle to be Manchester United’s starting goalkeeper has been won by Lammens. The fact that United have reached a verbal agreement on Onana’s departure is strong proof of this.
Lammens achieved the highest save percentage of all goalkeepers in Europe’s top 10 leagues last season (77.4%).
The giant Belgian also conceded about 18 goals FEWER than he would have been expected to concede based on his xG (expected goals) numbers.
It’s clear that Lammens is a high-quality goalkeeper, but as we’ve seen so many times in recent times, it’s a completely different matter to do the job at Manchester United.
And despite not even having made his debut yet, Lammens is already being subjected to intense scrutiny for his one supposed weakness.
