Ruben Amorim warned he 'can't play' Man Utd star again because of big weakness

Former Chelsea star Craig Burley insists that Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim simply "can't play" goalkeeper Altay Bayindir again this season - because he is "absolutely useless" at dealing with set-pieces.

United have had bad luck with goalkeepers in recent years after signing Andre Onana for £47m in 2023, only to see a number of high profile errors from the Cameroon international. Onana now looks likely to join Turkish side Trabzonspor on a season-long loan with Bayindir starting their first three games in the Premier League .

The club are open to letting Onana go after signing promising goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp in the final hours of the summer transfer window for around £18m, with the young Belgian expected to go on and establish himself as the club's first choice shot-stopper.

And Burley is adamant that playing Bayindir is no longer an option for Amorim after watching the keeper' fail to convince in his outings so far this term, where he has been exposed from set-pieces in particular. "Altay Bayindir, they can’t play him," Burley told ESPN . "He might be okay at shot-stopping, which is what goalkeepers are paid for, but he’s absolutely useless at dealing with balls in from set-pieces.

"This new lad [Lammens] needs to be able to marshal a back four, make saves and have an authority and make a statement at set-pieces. That’s what every team is going to do against United now, they’re going to launch balls into the box and the goalkeeper needs to be able to deal with it. He’s either going to sink or swim. We don’t really know how he’s going to handle this scenario."

He was also critical of Onana as he claimed the former Inter Milan star has "got worse" since arriving at United and warned Lammens he must make good decisions and be assertive or there could be a "mess" at the club.

"[Onana] another player who’s gone to Manchester United and got worse. He cost a lot of money but he wasn’t able to marshal a back four. I thought Onana would be the real deal, it looked that way in Italy. I thought he might have a Peter Schmeichel-esque aura about him and boss about players but it hasn’t happened. If this new, youngish lad comes in and starts flapping about all over the place, it’s going to be a mess."

While Lammens has been backed to be the new United No 1, former Red Devils shot-stopper Ben Foster believes the signing is a "panic buy" and said the club needed someone "with broad shoulders" in between the sticks.

He said: "I’ve watched a lot of videos of him [Lammens] on YouTube … and he looks on the eye test like he’s a competent goalkeeper. I’m yet to see what he’s like with the ball at his feet though and I think he’s a panic buy.

"United have probably always got some sort of list of goalkeepers that they look at and they keep tabs on. There will be scouts all over the world …but I don’t think they’ve done an in-depth analysis. A deadline day goalkeeper signing tells me that your club is desperate."

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