Keane and Scholes question whether Lammens is good enough to keep United's No.1 shirt

Roy Keane has identified Senne Lammens as a key liability in Manchester United’s troubled season, telling the Stick to Football podcast that the Belgian goalkeeper is actively hurting the team — a view shared by fellow United legend Paul Scholes.

Lammens, 24, joined United from Royal Antwerp in the summer of 2025 for £18 million and impressed in his debut campaign at Old Trafford. But his form has deteriorated sharply in recent months, with the rot arguably beginning at the World Cup when he made a costly error in a quarter-final defeat to Spain — despite playing only 19 minutes of the tournament.

This season Lammens has conceded 19 goals, and scrutiny has mounted over several of them. He was arguably at fault when Lisandro Martinez turned the ball into his own net against Fulham in a moment that might have been prevented, and he was beaten at his near post before conceding again in last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, with Evanilson’s goal also laid at his door.

“Going back to Manchester United, the goalkeeper is costing them, isn’t he?” Keane said. “He was very good last year.”

Scholes struck a similarly cautious note on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. “What team have you seen win the Premier League without a top-class goalkeeper?” he said. “Lammens might be that, I don’t know, I think the jury’s probably still out on that. You need a top-class goalkeeper. You think of Liverpool’s team with Alisson, City’s teams, Raya at Arsenal. Man United with Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. They’ve all got brilliant, brilliant goalkeepers. You start from the back, of course you do.”

The precedent for ruthless goalkeeping changes mid-project exists in the Premier League. Arsenal replaced Aaron Ramsdale with David Raya after just a few seasons, while Manchester City moved on James Trafford within weeks of giving him his chance, bringing in Gianluigi Donnarumma. United could yet follow a similar path with Lammens, though the club’s problems extend well beyond the goalkeeper position.

Manager Michael Carrick’s future also remains uncertain, though the United hierarchy has given him the chance to arrest the slide. He faces Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime in what amounts to a critical Premier League fixture. Carrick, speaking at his Thursday press conference, projected defiance: “I don’t need any assurances from anyone.”

With questions swirling over personnel, management and boardroom direction, United’s problems appear systemic — but for Keane and Scholes, the goalkeeper debate is one that demands an answer sooner rather than later.