Peter Schmeichel has criticised Manchester United's decision to sign Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for £18.2million, admitting he had never heard of the Belgian goalkeeper before the transfer links emerged. The United legend believes the club should have pursued a more established option like Emi Martinez or Gianluigi Donnarumma instead.
Lammens, 23, has only played in Belgium and is yet to make a senior appearance for his country. He is currently competing with Altay Bayindir for a starting spot after Andre Onana was loaned out to Trabzonspor. Bayindir started Sunday's 3-0 Manchester Derby defeat, leaving the possibility of Lammens making his debut against Chelsea.
Schmeichel expressed concerns about the reliance on statistics in recruitment. 'I know his stats are excellent across the top 10 European leagues, but that was with Antwerp in Belgium, in a team that finished fifth,' he told The Sun. 'Stats don't show how you react after a mistake, or how you cope with the pressure of Manchester United.'
The former United goalkeeper highlighted missed opportunities to sign proven talents. 'We should have signed Emi Martinez... we should have gone for Gianluigi Donnarumma when we had the chance,' he said. United were quoted £40m for Martinez and balked at Donnarumma's wage demands, instead spending over £200m on attacking additions.
While acknowledging Lammens could succeed, Schmeichel called the move a 'hopeful' gamble. 'If we'd signed him alongside Martinez, that would have made perfect sense,' he said. 'But instead, we're left asking who's going to be number one.'
