Saturday briefing: Altay Bayindir gets the nod and more misery for Ruben Selles

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim made a decision on his goalkeeper, Eddie Howe opened up on his relationship with Alexander Isak and Mikel Arteta piled the pressure on Liverpool ahead of the Premier League resumption.

Sheffield United’s miserable start to the Championship season continued with a fifth successive defeat which leaves Ruben Selles under severe pressure.

Altay to stay

Lammens joined from Royal Antwerp in an £18.2million deal that paved the way for Andre Onana to head to Trabzonspor on a season-long loan, but he will be given time to adjust as Bayindir continues his run of starting every Premier League game so far this term.

“Altay is going to continue,” Amorim said. “It is a different league, a different country, different training and a different ball, so we try to maintain that and they will fight for the position. But for me in this game it is clear, Altay will start.”

Blades blunted again

Sheffield United’s miserable start to the season continued as they were hammered 5-0 at Ipswich.

Boss Ruben Selles is now under severe pressure after a fifth successive league defeat and sixth in total.

Jaden Philogene’s hat-trick and goals from George Hirst and Jack Clarke gave Ipswich a first victory of the campaign to leave the Blades rock bottom.

Bellingham on the mend

Bellingham has been out of action this season after undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer.

Speaking at a press conference, Alonso confirmed: “He has already rejoined the group and done some training with the group.

“He still obviously has some minor issues with the shoulder because it was a very serious surgery, but little by little he is getting there, and who knows, he may be available for the fixtures in October.”

Howe opens up on Isak

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has admitted his relationship with Alexander Isak became “difficult” after he went on strike in an attempt to force through his move to Liverpool.

The 25-year-old Sweden international missed the club’s pre-season tour to Singapore and South Korea and was left training by himself on the squad’s return before eventually getting his wish with a deadline day move to Anfield which netted the Magpies £130million.

Asked about his relationship with the man he signed from Real Sociedad for £63million during the summer of 2022, head coach Howe said: “Alex and I always enjoyed a great relationship. I loved working with him and I hope he loved working with us.

“But to give you a bit more on that, the moment he went on strike, our relationship did change. I think that was probably a turning point in our relationship. Communication became difficult from that point onwards.”

Arteta puts pressure on Liverpool

Liverpool broke their transfer record twice this summer to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, in a deal which could rise to £116million, before splurging on Isak on deadline day.

Arteta said: “They are the strongest for sure. They have recruited the two most decisive players that were in Europe in the market (Isak and Wirtz), and they did really well to do that.

“They were very, very strong, and we need to look at ourselves and what we have to do in terms of our abilities to be better than them.”

What’s on today

The Premier League returns with Ange Postecoglou’s taking charge of his first game as Nottingham Forest boss in a lunchtime kick-off at Arsenal.

Chelsea visit west London rivals Brentford in an evening kick-off, with West Ham hosting Tottenham. Aston Villa’s trip to Everton and Newcastle’s game against Wolves are other standout games.

Rangers are going for their first win in the Scottish Premiership while Middlesbrough aim to extend their 100 per cent record in the Championship with a visit to Preston.