Phil Jones has issued a warning to new Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens and claimed former star David de Gea would still be ‘top drawer’ at Old Trafford.
Lammens will compete with Altay Bayindir for a place in the United team following his £18m deadline-day move from Royal Antwerp.
Andre Onana was Ruben Amorim’s number one last year but he sat out of United’s first three Premier League games of the season.
Manchester United became open to offers for Onana once Lammens arrived through the doors and have now agreed a deal with Trabzonspor to send the Cameroon international on loan.
It remains to be seen whether Amorim immediately promotes Lammens to his first-choice goalkeeper, with Gary Neville of the opinion that he will initially be back-up.
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Ex-Manchester United defender Jones doubts Lammens has the ‘capacity’ or the ‘experience’ to be the No. 1 at this stage of his career.
Lammens made 63 appearances for Belgian side Antwerp before being brought to Old Trafford on deadline day.
‘The interesting one in the last few days for Manchester United was obviously the goalkeeper situation,’ Jones told Ladbrokes.
‘I think we all thought that the Emiliano Martinez deal was going to happen, but obviously that wasn’t the case, and in the end the club brought in Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp.
‘What I would say about that move though, is that I always think a number one at United has to be able to deal with the pressure of wearing that shirt, because it can be a pretty heavy one to wear.
‘Don’t get me wrong; it can be a rewarding one at the same time, but I think you’ve got to come in and deal with that pressure straight away.
Reaction to Senne Lammens transfer
New Manchester United signing Senne Lammens
‘I am extremely proud to be joining Manchester United. It is a real dream come true. The past few years have been an amazing journey, it’s now ended in an incredible destination and hopefully the beginning of something special.’
Manchester United director of football Jason Wilcox
‘Senne is an excellent young goalkeeper with great potential. We are delighted that he has chosen to join Manchester United after significant interest from a number of clubs.’
‘I don’t know too much about his journey to Antwerp’s first-team, but I don’t think he has the capacity – or experience – right now to deal with being the number one at Old Trafford, playing in front of 90,000 people.
‘He’ll realise as soon as he comes in just how big the club is. Listen, hopefully it goes swimmingly for him and we’ve found ourselves the new number one.
‘He might not be number one at first, we don’t know… but I just think it’s such an important position to get right.’
Manchester United paid £47m to sign Onana from Inter Milan in 2023 after releasing club legend De Gea.
Before United signed Lammens, there were rumours the Red Devils were considering a shock move to bring De Gea back to the Theatre of Dreams.
De Gea is one of the greatest goalkeepers in Manchester United’s history but appeared to be on the decline towards the end of his spell at Old Trafford.
But Jones believes his former United teammate would still be ‘top drawer’ for the Red Devils.
‘David de Gea had a really tough first season at the club when he first came in – really tough,’ he added.
‘There were a few mistakes in there, but after that, he was just terrific for the club… everything about him, from his performances to his charisma, was just through the roof.
‘He was such a pivotal player for us during my time with the club. To be honest, I still think he’d be top drawer for United today.
‘He wouldn’t look out of place at all. He’s the kind of player who – in a nice way – just didn’t care about all the noise around him. When you’re playing for Man United, or any of those top clubs, you have to have a bit of that about you.
‘He’d make mistakes, and they’d hit the headlines because of the size of the club, but it never affected him.
‘You know, he’d just go on and make save after save in the next game, and pull something special out of nowhere.
‘There aren’t many players like that; he’s up there with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham in that respect; all of those top players have this ability to just not care about all of the noise.’
Lammens was Manchester United’s fifth and final signing of the summer following Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Diego Leon and Benjamin Sesko.
Amorim’s side resume their Premier League campaign after the international break against local rivals Manchester City.
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