Man Utd’s £50m goalkeeper gamble failed in worst transfer window ever but academy sale can provide new blueprint

BOTH GOALKEEPERS Manchester United signed three years ago are now gone.

That Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir have merely secured season-long loan agreements reflects doubly badly on United.

Advertisement

In fairness to the current regime, Onana and Bayindir were bought by their predecessors. United paid more than £50m for them.

United’s current decision-makers will point the finger at legacy deals behind their continued inability to sell senior players, but Bayindir only cost £4.1million on deadline day in 2023.

That was the same summer United signed Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund, Sofyan Amrabat, Sergio Reguilon and Jonny Evans. Little wonder they had their worst season in 34 years.

Even someone as small fry as Bayindir has had his reputation harmed by association with United. Seventeen games, 31 goals conceded and one good performance (Arsenal away in the FA Cup).

Celta Vigo have an option to buy Bayindir for £3.5m. The numbers do not add up when he will have one year left on his United deal come next summer and last played in September 2025.

Bayindir wore the number one, was signed as a number two but should have been the number three for United.

Turkey has produced some stylish mavericks. Bayindir’s old Fenerbahce teammate Arda Guler is one of them. Turkey is not renowned for its quality ‘keepers.

United did sell a goalie this week – Radek Vitek to Middlesbrough for an initial £7m, potentially rising to £14m.

Advertisement

BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK

Vitek has never played for United, hence why his resale value is high. He came through the academy and excelled on loan in the Championship and is now Boro bound.

If United are to start milking the academy cash cow then Vitek is the blueprint. Develop good prospects with no believable pathway into the first team, secure a second-tier loan, keep them at arm’s length from the first team and sell.

Leeds have agreed a £45m fee for James Trafford as he came through the Manchester City academy during Pep Guardiola’s golden period. Trafford has Premier League experience, was good enough to be re-signed by City and is an England international.

United’s academy sells but it is not at the level of City’s. Significant first team success will always have a bearing on how junior talents are viewed from the outside.

Advertisement

Ironically, United’s director of football helped enhanced City’s reputation. Jason Wilcox held the same title at Southampton when they signed Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Shea Charles and Josh McNamara from City.

At least United’s goalkeeping department looks its best in six years. Senne Lammens has been a revelation and a bargain, Karl Darlow has ample Premier League pedigree as a number two and Tom Heaton was namechecked by the outgoing Casemiro as one of the club’s most important players.

In 2020, United had David de Gea, Dean Henderson and Sergio Romero on their books. Impeccable cover but too senior a trio.

Romero resented his demotion for the Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla in August 2020 yet United failed to facilitate a transfer. So Romero spent a miserable final season unused, the isolation exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Advertisement

Henderson was a credible challenger to De Gea and would have succeeded him but for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s infamous indecision.

The luckless Henderson contracted Covid days after attending the European Championship final at Wembley in July 2021 and was laid low for two months. Solskjaer scrapped the succession plan.

With Lammens, Darlow and Heaton, each has a defined role of one, two and three. De Gea, Henderson and Romero all had a shout at claiming No.1 status.

Craig Mawson has been promoted to lead goalkeeping coach under Michael Carrick, having been at United for six-and-a-half years. Lammens is yet to make an outright mistake with his hands; his only blemish is a daft pass that allowed Liverpool to equalise in May.

Advertisement

Onana and Bayindir committed enough howlers for their own bloopers DVD, if they were still produced. De Gea’s final season was marred by clangers that convinced Erik ten Hag United needed a new No.1.

Former goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis, brought back to the club by Solskjaer and discarded amid Ineos’s coaching staff overhaul in 2024, oversaw a rocky five-year period for those between the sticks.

In an era of set-piece coaches, Hartis was the one Solskjaer used to send into the technical area to choreograph United’s defensive shape. United shipped 14 goals from dead balls in the 2020-21 season.

Onana’s steadiest spell was after Hartis was replaced by Jelle ten Rouwelaar. Only he lasted four months.

It got much worse after Hartis and Ten Rouwelaar were discarded. Bayindir and Onana both conceded straight from corners. One week apart.