Manchester United signed Senne Lammens on transfer deadline day earlier this month, but Ineos are still in the market for a new number one.
When the summer transfer window opened, it quickly became clear that Ruben Amorim had little interest in seeing Andre Onana begin the season as his number one.
Onana was out injured in week one of pre-season, and this effectively brought an end to his Manchester United career, with Altay Bayindir emerging as the new starting shot stopper.
However, Bayindir had a poor start to the season, proving he isn’t a long-term solution for the Red Devils in goal, leading to a race for a new option late in the transfer window.
In order to overhaul the position, United signed Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp; however, he is yet to play a minute for the club, suggesting he might not be totally ready for the Premier League.
As a result, Amorim and Ineos are now considering additional signing in goal.
Manchester United planning to sign another new goalkeeper in 2026
On transfer deadline day, United chose Lammens over Emiliano Martinez, picking the high-potential and affordable youngster ahead of an expensive and aging world-class goalkeeper.
The decision has yet to bear fruit, and it remains to be seen when Amorim will place trust in the Belgian.
Now, United in Focus understands via Graeme Bailey that Lammens is the long-term solution, but United still wants to sign a proper number one.
“To be fair to Ruben Amorim, one of the first things he said when he came in was that he was not happy with the goalkeepers, but he knew that could not be solved overnight.
“Now, as a club, they have decided a new number one is needed in 2026 – no surprise, and it appears that they aim to have the new player competing with Senne Lammens long-term.
“In terms of who they are looking at, I can confirm as a club they do like Mike Maignan – but he is someway down the road with Chelsea. They tried to sign him in the summer, but Max Allegri did not want to lose him; now his talks over a new deal are not going well.
“I am told that as it stands, he wants to join Chelsea and is likely to be how that one maps out, but United are giving themselves the chance to assess the situation.
“We know they like Emi Martinez, Diogo Costa, and Zion Suzuki. One of those will emerge as the first choice, it is possible, but they are going to make sure they get this right; they know just how important this is.”
Manchester United’s top goalkeeping targets compared
So, with Lammens not currently seen as the number one goalkeeper, who is best suited to join and take the mantle for the time being?
Well, comparing the three aforementioned goalkeepers based on their 2025/26 stats this season, there is a clear standout.
Martinez vs Costa vs Suzuki 25/26 stats per 90
| Stat per 90 | Martinez | Costa | Suzuki |
| Save percentage | 75% | 90% | 70.6% |
| Goals prevented | 0.21 | 0.07 | -0.05 |
| Clean sheets | 0.33 | 0.83 | 0.25 |
| Errors leading to goal | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Passing accuracy | 77.8% | 80.7% | 59.2% |
From this, Suzuki is clearly the option worst suited, as his numbers are concerning and don’t represent the sure thing upgrade United must be wanting.
Martinez is a grave improvement, however, when it comes to signing a guaranteed upgrade, Diogo Costa is the one United should be looking to sign.
Amorim is a massive fan of Costa, and a deal seems like a match made in heaven for United’s goalkeeping department.
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