Ruben Amorim confirms who will start in goal for Man Utd vs Manchester City

Manchester United signed Senne Lammens in a deal worth up to £21.7million on transfer deadline day but the Belgian goalkepeer won’t be making his first start on Sunday

Ruben Amorim has confirmed that new signing Senne Lammens WON’T start the Manchester derby, instead preferring Altay Bayindir. But three Manchester United stars will miss the game through injury.

Lammens, 23, was signed from Royal Antwerp on transfer deadline day, with the Red Devils agreeing to pay an initial £18.2million plus £3.5m in add-ons for the Belgian goalkeeper. A debate quickly ensued regarding who’d get the nod in goal when United take on bitter rivals Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.

But Amorim has cleared up the speculation more than 48 hours before kick-off. “It’s the same thing I do with different positions, but Altay is going to continue,” the Red Devils boss said at his pre-match press conference.

“I believe in Altay he is ready to play. It’s a different league, a different country, a different ball. So they will fight for the position. We are really pleased [with Lammens]. He is a goalkeeper with a lot of potential.

“We are in a moment where the goalkeeper needs to be really strong and have a lot of experience, but we also have to look at the present, with a focus on the future, so it’s a bit of both. He will be ready.

“Sometimes you as a club you try to see different options. We have an option [in Lammens] who can give us different things in this moment, but who also has a great potential to be our goalkeeper for a number of years.”

Turkey international Bayindir started all three of United’s Premier League games before the international break, regularly looking suspect. That was after the 27-year-old was promoted to first-choice goalkeeper by Amorim, dislodging Andre Onana, who’s now joined Trabzonspor on loan.

“Andre had a very good season and the quality is there, but in the club sometimes things are getting harder and harder and at this club the pressure is so hard in every detail, so sometimes you need a change,” the United manager explained.

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“I think we – and Andre – understood that this needed a change and sometimes it’s hard to point out why. Sometimes it’s the moment, the bad luck in some moments, it’s hard on him and on us.

“Our thinking was to have a change in the goalkeepers but I wish the best for Andre, he was really good, working and trying to help the players, but sometimes you can have all the quality in the world but you need a change.”

Lammens is expected to be on the bench come Sunday, unlike three of his new team-mates. Amorim confirmed that Diogo Dalot, Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha will all be unavailable due to injury.

Mount and Cunha were both taken off during United’s last game before the international break, a dramatic 3-2 win against Burnley. Dalot, meanwhile, left the Portugal camp early after suffering an injury.

“I think they are out for this game,” Amorim revealed. “I don’t know how long it is going to take. We need those players to be a very, very competitive team, but we have very good players that are eager to play so we will be competitive on Sunday, but they are out, they cannot help us in this game.

“I don’t want to say [how long they will be out]. If you talk with Cunha, if you catch Cunha outside, he will say he can play this game! So I don’t know. We will manage day by day, but they are pushing hard and that is a good thing.”

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