Manchester United’s Goalkeeper Woes: Will Onana’s Exit Fix Anything?
Manchester United’s long-running goalkeeper crisis is once again under the spotlight as André Onana prepares to leave on loan. Yet his departure may do little to address the deeper problems at Old Trafford.
Onana, a £47 million signing from Inter Milan in 2023, arrived as the successor to David de Gea but never convinced as a No. 1. His debut was marred by an error against Wolves, and two seasons of costly mistakes followed. His nadir came last month, when he was culpable in a shock Carabao Cup defeat to League Two side Grimsby Town, before saving just one of 13 penalties in a humiliating shootout exit.
The Cameroon international is hardly the first United goalkeeper to fall short. Massimo Taibi, Mark Bosnich, Fabien Barthez and Roy Carroll all failed to match the standards set by Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. But Onana’s inconsistency has only reinforced the sense that United’s most important position has been left to drift.
United’s recruitment has done little to help. Altay Bayindir, signed for just £4.3 million from Fenerbahce in 2023, has struggled badly when called upon. Veteran Tom Heaton remains overlooked, while new signing Senne Lammens, a 23-year-old from Antwerp, is viewed internally as “one for the future” rather than an immediate solution. Sources in Belgium have described him as promising but “unconvincing when dealing with crosses” — hardly reassuring in the Premier League.
Coach Rúben Amorim wanted proven quality. A move for Argentina’s World Cup winner Emiliano Martínez fell apart after United made only a low-ball loan offer to Aston Villa. There was even a fleeting enquiry about PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, but no deal materialised. Instead, Amorim must now decide whether to persist with Bayindir or throw Lammens into Sunday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad.
The contrast with City is stark. Pep Guardiola strengthened by signing both James Trafford, tipped as England’s next No. 1, and Donnarumma, widely regarded as one of the world’s best. United, meanwhile, have gambled on youth while allowing their problems to fester.
For all the focus on new attacking recruits — Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko arrived this summer after United’s paltry 44 league goals last season — the club has ignored a glaring weakness. Conceding 54 goals last term should have forced a rethink. Instead, Amorim is left with no reliable goalkeeper and no clear path forward.
Onana’s exit solves one problem: removing a goalkeeper who had become a liability. But it leaves the bigger question unanswered — who can United trust to restore stability in goal? Until that is answered, the shadow of Schmeichel and Van der Sar will continue to loom large over Old Trafford.
