Manchester Clubs Upgrade their Goalkeepers as Donnarumma and Lammens Sign on Deadline Day

Gianluigi Donnarumma When Playing for Italy

In total, Premier League clubs spent well over £3 billion during the summer transfer window, which was a new record by some margin. There were several deals that went to the wire on the final day, including the biggest of them all: Alexander Isak to Liverpool from Newcastle for a tidy sum of £125m.

In this article, however, we will be looking at last-minute (dare we say “panicked”?) signings made by Manchester City and Manchester United, both of whom brought in goalkeepers.

Image: Silvi Photo / Shutterstock.com.

Man City Buy Gianluigi Donnarumma for £26m from Paris Saint-German

Pep Guardiola’s Man City were not themselves last season. They finished third, behind champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal, which was their worst position since the 2016/17 campaign (the last time they finished outside of the top two). The Cityzens struggled in most departments, at least by their very high standards, and managed to score just 72 goals in the Premier League, their lowest total since 2015/16.

Crucially, they also conceded more goals than usual, shipping 44 in their 38 games. That was the first time the side had let in more than a goal per game since 2016/17, and it was the most goals they’d conceded in the league since 2009/10. Clearly, something had to change.

Brazilian stopper Ederson had been Guardiola’s first-choice keeper since he was signed from Benfica in June 2017. But cracks began to appear last term, and it came as no surprise when City dipped into the transfer market to shore up their goalkeeping options. First, they signed Marcus Bettinelli from Chelsea on a one-year deal. Then, more significantly, City re-signed James Trafford from Burnley for not far off £30m.

It was widely thought that Trafford would be competing with Ederson for the number one jersey, and even that he’d have the edge. But after just three games of the new Premier League season (which included defeats to Spurs and Brighton and some sub-par performances by Trafford), City made a move for Donnarumma from Champions League-winning PSG. Ederson, meanwhile, has been sold to Fenerbahce in Turkey.

Donnarumma, who has made 74 appearances for Italy, is a very different type of keeper to Ederson and less capable with the ball at his feet. He’s also faced some criticism for occasionally making blunders from crosses or seemingly innocuous shots. But no goalkeeper is perfect, of course, and Guardiola clearly didn’t see enough from Trafford in the opening games of the season to have full faith in him.

Man United Sign Senne Lammens from Antwerp for £18.1m

Man United, meanwhile, have been well used to issues at the back in recent years and have conceded more than 50 goals in four of the last seven Premier League seasons (including three of the last four). Their number one for the last couple of seasons has been André Onana, whom they signed for a sizeable fee of £44m from Inter Milan, when Eric ten Hag was United manager.

It’s fair to say, the Cameroon international hasn’t been hugely successful at Old Trafford, and things looked desperate for him when he messed up yet again against Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup. He came out flapping at a corner, missed the ball completely and it fell to Tyrell Warren, who tapped in for the Mariners to make it 2-0 (Grimsby subsequently knocked United out on penalties after United got back to 2-2 by the final whistle).

United manager Ruben Amorim had the back-up option of Altay Bayindir to turn to, but he clearly wanted more options, as Bayindir proved to be as error prone as Onana. As the summer transfer window neared its end, the Red Devils were heavily linked with Aston Villa’s highly rated stopper, Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine was even left out of Villa’s home match against Crystal Palace on Sunday (which Palace subsequently won 3-0), and many thought the move to United was all but done. But 24 hours is a long time in football, especially when deadline day comes along, and instead of Martinez, United signed Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp.

The 23-year-old is very inexperienced compared to Martinez, having made just 52 appearances in the Belgian top flight. He hasn’t even had a full cap for his country yet, whereas Martinez has won the World Cup and the Copa America (twice) with Argentina. But, with Martinez having just turned 33, the United hierarchy opted for the younger man, and United fans will hope their club has acquired a goalkeeper who could grow into a great player with the club over the coming months and years. Time will tell on that one.

Which of the Manchester Clubs is in the Most Trouble?

Manchester City and Manchester United Logos

On the one hand, we have Man City, who have won just about everything there is to win in the last decade or so before massively underachieving in 2024/25 and also having a poor start to the current campaign. On the other, we have a Man United side who have been underachieving basically since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of the 2012/13 season (i.e. the last time they won the Premier League).

But the Red Devils finished in 15th position last term, their worst league finish since 1974/75 when they played in the second tier. And then this season they kicked things off by getting knocked out of the League Cup by League Two minnows Grimsby Town, with boss Amorim cowering in the dugout as his side lost 12-11 on penalties.

Both clubs could be said to be struggling, by their respective standards, in the early games of the season. But on balance, Manchester City clearly look better placed to rediscover their groove and get back on track – i.e. moving towards the top of the table to challenge for the title. It helps that they have the likes of Erling Haaland, Rodri and Omar Marmoush among their ranks.

Man United, meanwhile, have invested heavily during the summer and their fans will hope their new-look forward line gels quickly and starts firing their side to regular wins. It would help matters for both clubs if their new goalkeepers could minimise the number of goals their sides concede. On that front, we think Donnarumma is likely to be more effective than Lammens. We’ll know more in a few weeks, but of the two managers, we suspect Amorim will be the more twitchy if positive results don’t materialise quickly.