Sports
Man United have a goalkeeper problem, but solving it might have to wait
As he walked into his first Friday news conference of the season, coach Ruben Amorim was keen to point out the upgrade Manchester United‘s Carrington training center has undergone over the summer. A designated media theater has been set up in the first-team building as part of the £50 million revamp and on his first visit, a smiling Amorim was suitably impressed.
“Better, eh?” he said as he sat down in front of reporters to answer questions ahead of Arsenal‘s trip to Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.
With the cameras on, he spoke for around 20 minutes about some of the other changes the club have made since the end of last season. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko have arrived to give the squad a fresh look. Amorim has even changed the way his team prepare for home games, deciding it’s better that they meet at Carrington and travel to the stadium later than have his players eat their prematch meal at Old Trafford and wait around for hours until kickoff.
But among the sound bites on Sesko, team preparations and Arsenal, there was a key point that Amorim wanted to get across. Yes, he is hoping for a much-improved season after United’s worst domestic campaign for more than 50 years. The one caveat: “We cannot change everything in four weeks.”
This feeling was particularly pertinent after the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. Altay Bayindir‘s mistake, which allowed Arsenal left back Riccardo Calafiori to score the winner, prompted an inquisition in the postmatch news conference about why United have not signed a new goalkeeper this summer. Amorim chose to defend Bayindir and double down, saying that he’s “happy” with his goalkeeping group, which also includes André Onana and Tom Heaton. In his head, though, you can imagine he was repeating his quote from three days earlier: “We can’t change everything in one summer.”
Sources told ESPN that signing a new first-team goalkeeper was discussed as early as January, but after a season in which United managed just 44 Premier League goals — the fifth-worst mark in 2024-25 — Amorim and recruitment staff decided it was more important to rebuild the attack. More than £200 million has been spent on Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko in the hope United will have more of a cutting edge. It does, however, mean that other improvements to the squad — namely in goal and in midfield — might have to wait. CEO Omar Berrada has already squeezed every last penny out the budget.
It’s similar to the situation former coach Erik ten Hag faced when he took over at Old Trafford in 2022. The Dutchman identified very quickly that he needed a different goalkeeper from David De Gea, the No. 1 at the time. But with other positions also in need of strengthening, Ten Hag chose instead to spend his money on Lisandro Martínez, Casemiro, Antony and Tyrell Malacia.
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There was hope that De Gea might learn to become better on the ball with a year of coaching. In the end, Ten Hag decided to cut ties with the Spaniard and sign Onana in summer 2023.
Onana has endured a roller coaster two years at United. There have been some stunning saves, particularly one on a shot by Liam Delap against Ipswich Town in Amorim’s first game in charge. Yet there has also been a catalog of mistakes. Two against Lyon in the Europa League in April saw Amorim decide to drop the Cameroon international for the next Premier League game against Newcastle United.
It sums up Amorim’s predicament that at St. James’ Park he picked Bayindir, who then also made an error in a 4-1 defeat.
2:21
Ogden: Man United have the worst two goalkeepers in the Premier League
Mark Ogden explains why he believes Ruben Amorim needs to sign a new goalkeeper at Manchester United.
Amorim can make a strong argument that United should replace Onana. In his two years in the Premier League, he has made five mistakes that have directly led to goals — the fifth-most by any goalkeeper during the same period. His save percentage of 68.5 ranks only 11th in the league, while he ranks 12th for goals prevented per 90 minutes.
United have looked at other goalkeepers during the transfer window. Aston Villa knocked back a loan bid for Emiliano Martínez shortly after Onana suffered the hamstring injury that kept him sidelined during preseason. There was brief interest in Joan García before it became clear he wanted to join Barcelona from Espanyol. United are also looking at Senne Lammens at Antwerp, but he’s not considered a No.1.
The message from United sources since the defeat to Arsenal is that any additional transfer funds raised by departures — most likely Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund — are likely to be reinvested in a midfielder rather than a goalkeeper. Onana is available for around £30 million, but there has been little interest since a tentative enquiry from Monaco in June. The club expect hi to stay, and he’s expected to reclaim his place for the trip to Fulham on Sunday, and as things stand, he will remain United’s No. 1 for at least another year.
The game at Craven Cottage gives United the chance to build on the positivity generated by the performance against Arsenal and put their first points on the board. Amorim has made a lot of changes in an attempt to bury the memory of last season and start moving forward, but the one in goal may have to wait.
Star LAFC recruit Son Heung-Min is settling into life in Los Angeles brilliantly.
After netting his debut goal for the club last Saturday — a stunning 30-yard free kick against FC Dallas no less — the South Korea captain capped a fine week by throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
Ahead of the Dodgers hosting Cincinnati Reds, the former Premier League star stepped up to the plate and launched a finely arced right-handed strike, much to the delight of the fans at the stadium.
Son’s pitch comes just days after BTS star V also threw the ceremonial first pitch in LA. We’ll leave it up to you to decide which Korean superstars’ throw was best.
Sports
Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’
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Travis Kelce has spoken out about the ongoing controversy over Shedeur Sanders‘ role with the Cleveland Browns.
During his “New Heights” podcast this week, the Kansas City Chiefs star said he believes the Browns should start Sanders, who is third on the team’s depth chart behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
Travis Kelce spoke about Shedeur Sanders’ role with the Browns on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which aired before the official start of the NFL season. (Imagn)
“Give the people what they want, in terms of the Browns fans. Start Shedeur. … Put him in coach,” Kelce said. “Give the people what they want. The world wants to see him go out there, and not only play, but have success. At this point, guys are rooting for him. This isn’t anything against Dillon. This isn’t anything against Joe. I’m just saying the excitement is there for [Sanders] to go out there. He’s going to put eyes on the screen. He’s going to bring people to the game.
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“I would love to f—ing see it, man.”
On the contrary, Kelce’s brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, defended the team naming Joe Flacco as the starter.
“[Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski and the Browns are trying to do the thing that they feel gives them the best chance to win football games,” Jason said. “If the Browns and Kevin Stefanski felt their best option and the most confident option they had to win games was Shedeur Sanders, they would be playing him.”
Still, Jason conceded that he “wants” to see Sanders play.
“What do I want? I want to see Shedeur Sanders,” Jason said.
Jason also rejected the “conspiracies” surrounding the situation as to why Sanders is as low on the depth chart as he is.
Criticism and conspiracy theories directed at the Browns reemerged after the team’s preseason finale on Saturday.
Sanders entered the game in the third quarter and completed three of six passes for 14 yards, while taking five sacks for a combined loss of 41 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. He netted minus-27 yards for Cleveland before being pulled from the game on the final drive and replaced by veteran Tyler Huntley.
Huntley led the Browns’ offense on a game-winning field goal drive, and the Browns won 19-17.
It was a far cry from Sanders’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers Aug. 8, when he threw for two touchdowns and was praised by fans and sports stars, including LeBron James and Dawn Staley.
However, many fans and pundits were quick to defend Sanders for his rough outing on Saturday and blamed the Browns’ coaching for putting Sanders in a position where he had to rely on backup teammates while also calling questionable plays.
EX-NBA PLAYER MAKES SHEDEUR SANDERS-LEBRON JAMES COMPARISON AFTER QB’S PRESEASON DEBUT
Jason Kelce on the ESPN postseason countdown set during the 2025 Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium Feb. 2, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr questioned why Sanders wasn’t left in the game to finish the final drive.
“I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2-minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…” Carr wrote on X.
Sports talk show host Skip Bayless posted a 16-minute rant in defense of Sanders on X, while condemning the Browns for their handling of the quarterback.
“They sabotaged it. They rigged it against him today, putting him in with third- and fourth-stringers, fifth-stringers. You got no shot at quarterback,” Bayless said.
Other users on social media leveled similar criticisms at the Browns, with some speculating that the obstacles being put in front of the quarterback are intentional.
Prior to that game, NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked conspiracy theories related to Sanders in a recent interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April.
“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams], ‘Don’t draft him, do not draft him,'” Dickerson said in a recent interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports.
“‘We’re going to make an example out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you, ‘This is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.”
Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Donald Trump, who condemned the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback in a Truth Social post.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders against the Philadelphia Eagles during a game at Lincoln Financial Field. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns on the third and final day of the draft with the 144th pick. The quarterback was initially considered a possible contender for the first overall pick early in the draft process after finishing his final season at Colorado.
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