Amorim admits he’s ‘surprised’ new Man Utd signing has actually performed well so far

Ruben Amorim explained why he’s actually ‘surprised’ one of his summer signings is performing to such a high standard so far.

The four headline-grabbing additions at Man Utd last summer were Senne Lammens, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko.

Lammens has come into the team for the last two matches after initially being kept at bay by Altay Bayindir.

Cunha and Mbeumo slotted in seamlessly from day one, perhaps in part due to already boasting a wealth of Premier League experience.

Sesko was eased in like Lammens and the fact he was not chosen to start the 2-1 victory over Liverpool suggests the big-money striker isn’t an automatic selection when fit, especially in the bigger games.

When speaking in a press conference on Friday, United boss Amorim touched on the impact the least heralded of that quartet has made so far.

“Senne Lammens has been great,” said Amorim. “His impact surprised me a little bit, because it is hard in the moment of our club and all of the speculation around our goalkeepers… he has coped really well with the pressure.”

Lammens has just one full season of Belgian top flight football under his belt. That may explain why Bayindir got the nod in the immediate matches after his arrival, with Amorim not wishing to throw the 23-year-old into the deep end from day one.

Nevertheless, Lammens has looked calm and assured in his two outings so far (versus Sunderland and Liverpool) and some United fans have already made comparisons to perhaps their greatest keeper ever, Peter Schmeichel.

That comparison was put to Amorim in his press conference on Friday and the Portuguese was quick to play down the parallel. Two good games does not put you on the same standing as an all-time great.

“He’s not Schmeichel yet,” Amorim said. “He’s a young guy with talent. He showed a lot of composure, and the fans liked it. But again, that is in the past; we need to prove in the next game.”

Schmeichel’s assessment of Lammens

Speaking after Lammens’ debut against Sunderland – in which a clean sheet was kept – Schmeichel urged United fans not to overload their new stopper with unnecessary compliments or criticisms.

The pressure of playing for arguably the biggest club in world football is enough by itself and the true test of how good the Belgian is will be borne out over a full campaign, not just a handful of early showings.

“You think about the goalkeepers that we’ve had over these last couple of years and how many goals we’ve conceded from errors – nine already this season – it’s too much,” Schmeichel said on the Monday Night Club.

“My instruction when I played was to save the team 10 points a season, not give them away. It’s nice to see a clean sheet and a solid performance because that’s something we’ve not seen for a while.

“This young lad didn’t have much to do for a long time [vs Sunderland], but he did well when called upon.

“You could see his confidence grow after that first save, and the defenders reacted well. It’s far too early to judge him, though; he’s young, hardly played any competitive football, and the pressure at Manchester United can be relentless.”

Schmeichel concluded: “He did well, it was clean and positive, things we haven’t been used to. But we’ll really see what kind of goalkeeper he is when he makes mistakes and has to respond to them. That’s when we’ll know how good he can be.”

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