Manchester United s first choice is still Lamons, and the offer has been raised to 23 million! Data reveals that he can substitute Onana

Aston Villa veteran Emiliano Martinez became Manchester United's target at the last moment of the summer window, but British media revealed that the club's first choice is still the younger Senna Lamens.

The Manchester Evening News reported that after Manchester United initially bid 14.5 million pounds plus bonus, it had raised its offer to 20 million pounds (23 million euros), hoping that the other party would accept it. If you cannot advance by purchasing 23-year-old Lamens, you will choose 32-year-old Martin. In the post-Ferguson era, Manchester United has been full of unstable factors, and the goalkeeper position has been particularly obvious in the past two years. The Red Devils once had one of the world's best save goalkeepers, and his reputation as "Daddy Duck" says it all.

However, when the Spanish goalkeeper made many mistakes, Manchester United, who used to be a god, chose to give up and introduced Andre Onana 50 million euros, thinking that it could bring about a tactical revolution. Unexpectedly, the ending was that the team died many times.

Onana's two years of performance at Manchester United were steadily unstable, and failed to play in the first two games of the 2025/26 season, although it is obvious that Altay Baindir, who replaced him, is not Onana's replacement, and he is also prone to making mistakes. Now, Manchester United is about to welcome a goalkeeper new player, the 23-year-old Belgian Lamons, who was not well known until his connection with Manchester United was exposed.

Lamons is still a young goalkeeper and has little experience in the top league. He debuted in Bruges in 2020, but he had the main goalkeeper Miniole blocked the road ahead, so he had to run away from Antwerp in 2023.

There, he proved himself, 40 appearances and 10 clean sheets, and was selected for the Belgian team, but he has not yet played. Some people think that the Red Devils sign him just "scratched the lottery", but some people believe that Lamens may at least compete with Onana.

From the traditional job of goalkeeper and save, Onana's performance at Manchester United is not good. However, his clean sheets are OK, and he has not conceded goals in 9 games in both seasons. In the 2023/24 Premier League season, his actual conceded 2.7 fewer than expected, ranking fifth among the league goalkeepers.

Overall, Onana is sometimes able to save shots brilliantly, just as he did twice in the game against Crystal Palace and Fenerbahce earlier last season. But he often makes mistakes when it seems that it is not difficult, such as losing the ball from the front or even missing the call. The fluctuations in self-confidence also make him make mistakes frequently.

Last season, Onana's actual goals conceded only 1 less than expected goals, ranking 18th among goalkeepers, and his save rate also dropped from 74.9% to 68.9%. From the perspective of traditional goalkeepers, Onana is just an ordinary goalkeeper, with poor basic skills and too many mistakes.

Meanwhile, Ramens scored 5th place in the 2024/25 season, finishing the season with a save rate of 81.4% and an astonishing actual conceded 14.5 fewer than expected conced. No Belgium goalkeeper has saved more times than Lamens. He is known for his calmness in front of the goal, especially good at saving penalty kicks, and has been predicted to be the successor of the national team legend Courtois.

As a goalkeeper, Ramens has performed well in his young career. In the fierce Premier League, one characteristic of the Belgian young player may be very useful. He is 193cm tall and 7cm taller than Onana. At least in terms of figure, he has the capital to fight against British crosses.

Although height does not represent air superiority, the 198cm Baindir is an excellent example, he is often bullied by his opponents in corner defense. But data shows that Lamens is a confident goalkeeper when his opponent sends the ball from the wing into the penalty area.

In the past year, Lamens' cross-blocking ratio has reached 13.2%. In contrast, Onana's cross-blocking rate is only a little more than 5%. The 29-year-old Cameroon goalkeeper has never had a cross-interception rate of more than 9.3% in a single season since the 2018/19 season.

Lamons will undoubtedly be tested more by fierce Premier League confrontations, but the original data shows that he is far superior to Onana in this regard. Onana has always been defined as a typical modern goalkeeper. He is not good at the activities in front of the goal, but rather away from the goal line and acts as a passer when the team is in possession.

However, the best condition shown by Onana Inter Milan is rarely reflected in Manchester United. His ball-handling skills and confidence at his feet are excellent, far better than De Gea, but the improvements to Manchester United's offense are almost non-existent. Like De Gea, Manchester United often had to make a long pass from the backcourt with a big foot, and the ball fell directly to the opponent's feet.

Because the key to passing is definitely not the goalkeeper, but the outfield player in front of him. If his teammates can't catch the pass, no matter how accurate the long pass is, it will be useless. During his time at Manchester United, Onana's pass completion rate hit two of his worst career seasons.

Lamens' pass success rate was 3.6% higher than Onana's, but the average number of passes per 90 minutes was 2.4 fewer. Belgian football expert Bat Tamsin believes that Lamens can handle both left and right feet, but he is definitely not the organizer of the backcourt pass, and Onana is more comfortable to control the ball than Lamens.

But what Manchester United needs at this moment is not a pass-control goalkeeper who is icing on the cake, but a traditional goalkeeper who can maintain stability in the penalty area, allowing the team's defense to gain more confidence.