Paul Scholes has said "the jury is still out" on Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens, arguing the club cannot win the Premier League without a "top class goalkeeper" regardless of the Belgian's promising start at Old Trafford.
Lammens joined United last summer from Royal Antwerp for £21.7million and has been the club's undisputed No 1 since displacing Altay Bayindir last autumn. His performances have generally won praise from a fanbase that has not seen a settled goalkeeper since the days of David De Gea, but Scholes remains unconvinced.
"What team have you seen win the Premier League without a top class goalkeeper?" Scholes asked on his podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Football. "Lammens might be that, I don't know, I think the jury's probably still out on that and then you build from the back four."
Legacy ambitions
Lammens, 24, has previously spoken about his hopes of a long career in Manchester and of becoming a club legend. "That's England for you. If things go badly, they can bury you deep, but if things go well, they praise you to the skies," he said last year.
He added that he took comparisons to former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel "with a grain of salt", saying he would have to prove himself many more times before being mentioned in the same sentence, though he called it "a very nice compliment". Lammens said he hoped to play at United for ten years and become important enough to leave a legacy in the mould of Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar.
Doubts after derby
Scholes' scepticism hardened after Lammens was beaten by an effort from Erling Haaland in the Manchester derby. "It's the way Arsenal started three or four years ago, defensively they have been absolutely brilliant. You need a top class goalkeeper," Scholes said.
He pointed to other leading Premier League sides as evidence. "You think of Liverpool's team with Alisson, Raya at Arsenal, Man United with Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. They've all got brilliant, brilliant goalkeepers," he said.
"You start from the back, of course you do. Whether Michael's (Carrick) just got to be patient and wait for that, I don't know," Scholes added, referring to United boss Michael Carrick.
