01/03/2026

theSun on Sunday MAR 1, 2026

SPORTS 13

Carrick hails ‘invaluable’ Maguire ahead of United contract decision

BY IAN PARKER

his sixth in seven appearances, yet the sum mer signing is still awaiting his first start under Carrick. Addressing the discussion surrounding Sesko’s place in the starting XI, Carrick com mented: “The whole thing is a real positive. It’s certainly not a decision I look at in a nega tive way. We’re playing well as a team, we’re not getting carried away and thinking that carries on. “The forwards have scored a good num ber of goals, Ben has been so good in so many ways. It’s really not a drama. It just shows the quality Ben has got. If he starts the next game or the one after, it is what it is, but he’s doing so many good things.” – The Independent

and he’s been really important for us.” The impending departure of veteran mid fielder Casemiro, who has confirmed this will be his final season with United, further underscores the importance of experienced figures like Maguire within the squad. Carrick elaborated on this point, stating: “Experience is massive. It’s hard to put a price on how valuable that can be. Harry has gained an awful lot of experience with this club. Case leaving is another one and we have to understand what that means.” The recent win at Everton marked United’s fifth victory in six matches under Carrick’s stewardship, propelling them back into the top four of the League. Benjamin Sesko netted the decisive goal,

However, Carrick was emphatic about the centreback’s enduring contribution, hint ing at a potential new deal. “Harry’s an impressive character,” Carrick affirmed. “He’s had a great career so far. Hopefully, there’s a lot more to come. I think, even while he’s been here, in the journey and the experiences that he’s had, certainly since he’s been here and with England as well, I think he’s shown exactly what he is.” He continued: “I think we all know the player that he is and what he’s capable of doing. Again, the other night I thought he was fantastic. “Experience helps, his attributes help, and his character. His willingness to put himself out there. He’s really impressive at (his) age

MICHAEL CARRICK has unequivocally stated that Harry Maguire remains an “invaluable” asset to Manchester United, even as the defender approaches the final months of his current contract. The 33-year-old, who will celebrate his birthday next week, has been a constant presence in the starting XI since Carrick assumed interim charge, making his 16th appearance of the season in Monday’s nar row 1-0 victory over Everton. Maguire, an £80 million (RM424m) acqui sition from Leicester in 2019, would likely need to accept a reduced salary to extend his tenure at Old Trafford.

Thriving under fire

Unheralded Belgian keeper Lammens hugely impressive in debut season at Old Trafford BY RICHARD JOLLY

Manchester United is a differ ent animal, especially social media wise,” he said. “They warned me that it is one of the biggest clubs, if not the biggest club. It is always on social media. “It’s all positive now, but I know sometimes it can get negative fast so I don’t really want to be looking towards it too much.” Some of his education came from watching a couple of the modern-day goalkeeping greats. “My biggest idol as a goal keeper was probably (Manuel) Neuer,” he explained. “I take pride in being an all-round goalkeeper and I think that’s also why I was such a big fan. I’m also Belgian, so Thibaut Courtois is always a big thing.” Despite Courtois’ brilliance for Real Madrid, it was unex pected when United looked to Belgium for an answer to a problem position. The goalkeeping scout Tony Coton identified Lammens, just as he had pushed the cause of David de Gea 13 years earlier. A couple of other teams were interested in the 24-year-old but he only really wanted to join one club. He was in no rush to leave. “I wouldn’t mind being longer in Antwerp if that give me a better situation in this in the winter in in next summer,” he added. “But United was always my No. 1 option in my head.” And some of goalkeeping is in the head, the anticipation and the preparation. “I think also that’s why Manchester United also were interested in me because they knew how it was going to be, how the Premier League is,” said Lammens. “Fitness wise is one thing, but also just visualising the things and all those bodies next to you trying to navigate. “But to be honest, if it contin ues like this, the physicality in general and those corners, I sometimes even like it.” – The Independent

A COUPLE of days after what he called “the war in the 16”, the victor reported he came through it unscathed. Senne Lammens had no cuts and bruises. His body was fine, his reputation enhanced. The Manchester United goal keeper had been crowded at corners, starting behind his line as Everton’s battery of six footers sought to dominate and intimidate. As David Moyes ruefully reflected afterwards, they didn’t expect Lammens to cope as well as he did. It is a statement that is true both for Monday night’s victory at Hill Dickinson Stadium and his debut season in England. A relative unknown was pro pelled into one of the most pressurised jobs in goalkeep ing, after a solitary season as Antwerp’s first choice, before he had made his international debut. He has looked undaunted whereas a rather more experi enced and decorated goal keeper, Andre Onana, had floundered at Old Trafford. Lammens’ £18.1 million (RM96m) fee makes him seem a bargain. It helps that he has looked suited to the particular chal lenges the Premier League poses. “It’s physicality and a bit of war in the 16,” said Lammens; for those not raised on metric measurements, the 18-yard box is 16 metres. “It’s always been a bit of my strength, always, even in Belgium which is less physical but the principles are all the same. The technique is the same. “Now it’s a little bit more bodies in front of you, but my teammates help me out as well with blocking the guys away from me. You have to be kind of big and not easy to be pushed around, so I think that’s also important.” It helps that Lammens is tall. “Naturally I’ve always been a little bit bigger, a bit more weight wise,” he said. But he

United interim manager Michael Carrick (left) alongside goalkeeper Senne Lammens. – AFPPIC

That is one of the issues join ing United poses. Another is that everything is magnified. “You know it’s Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world, but also you have to look through that a little bit,” Lammens said. “It’s still football, the game isn’t that much different.” But the attention is, espe cially for someone who made the leap from Antwerp. “They warned me that

how goalkeeping sometimes it’s not giving games away,” he said. “If you want to have a long career, especially in these kind of clubs, they have to count on you and you have to be depend able.” Reliability requires concen tration. “Sometimes in United, I don’t really have to do a lot of saves,” he said. “A different kind of goalkeeping, but it’s also sometimes the most diffi cult.”

has a presence in another sense. He is a calm figure. As Michael Carrick said on Monday, it is better to have a goalkeeper who takes the chaos away; Onana went unmen tioned but sometimes seemed the man who created too much chaos. Lammens has felt immune to errors. He is heeding the advice of United’s third-choice keeper, and a man 16 years his senior. “Tom Heaton is talking about