Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United must sign a new goalkeeper following their defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, with the Red Devils icon also throwing two of his former team-mates under the bus in the process.
There was a new energy about the Red Devils as they took to the field in their Premier League opener at Old Trafford.
But despite impressive displays from Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Matthijs de Ligt, the fallen giants lost 1-0 courtesy of an early goal from Riccardo Calafiori.
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Altay Bayindir was at fault, with the Turkey international getting a weak wrist to the ball while being pressured by William Saliba.
Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United must sign a new goalkeeper following their defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, with the Red Devils icon also throwing two of his former team-mates under the bus in the process
|BBC/GETTY
United felt the goal should have been chalked off but, in the end, didn't get their way.
Rooney, reacting to the result, has expressed a belief it would be 'crazy' if the Red Devils didn't sign Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain given their obvious need for a new No 1.
And the 39-year-old admitted that uncertainty with goalkeepers can be a problem due to his own experience of playing with Tim Howard and Roy Carroll during his playing days.
Speaking on The Wayne Rooney show, he said: “Yeah I think [signing a new goalkeeper] has to be a thing.
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“I go back to when we had Roy Carroll and Tim Howard in goal.
“I don’t think there was 100 per cent trust from the defenders in front of those two goalkeepers.
“But the minute [Edwin] Van der Sar came in and calmed everything down, the defenders trusted him a lot more and you see a better output of performance.
“And I think that’s where Manchester United are. They want that confidence and that trust in the goalkeeper behind them and tell them where to go. Sometimes it can be just having a calmness and speaking at the right moments.
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Donnarumma to Manchester United?
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) August 18, 2025
Here’s why I think it could be a great move….
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“The goalkeeper is so important in providing that calmness throughout the team. Especially the back four or five. Van der Sar did that for us.
“Onana’s come in. He’s a fantastic keeper - I watched him at Inter Milan and he was brilliant so if they don’t bring in a new goalkeeper you hope he can get back to that.
"But he certainly didn’t fill us with confidence last season.”
Rooney then opened up on Donnarumma.
PSG are open to offloading the Italy international, who has just a year left on his contract at the Parc des Princes.
Manchester City, as things stand, appear to be frontrunners in the race to secure his signature.
Yet Rooney thinks United's need is greater and that Donnarumma, if he moves to Old Trafford, would be worth his weight in gold.
“I think with Donnaruma, he’s 26. He’s one of the best keepers in the world. It would be crazy if Manchester United didn't go for him," he added.
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Wayne Rooney thinks it would be 'crazy' if Manchester United didn't sign Gianluigi Donnarumma
| GETTY“I don’t think he’s a risk. I saw a stat the other day - the errors leading to direct goals. His was zero.
"Some of his other stats weren’t right at the top, but I think that’s important.
“When a goalkeeper makes a mistake it’s difficult to recover, in that game and moving forward, so depending on what they can do salary wise, I would certainly be trying to bring him into the club.”