When Senne Lammens makes his debut in goal for Manchester United, his family will wish him luck but be careful not to mention keeping a clean sheet.
‘According to him, that brings bad luck,’ says his older brother Tom, a striker with DT Borsbeke in the Belgian sixth division. ‘I don’t send anything to Senne before the match about clean sheets.
‘As a goalkeeper, there is naturally a lot at stake. I prefer to watch all his matches from home, just like my mother. She is always nervous. Senne has mum’s nervousness too. We are both a bit superstitious.’
It’s a suggestion United’s new £21.7million signing doesn’t deny, even though Lammens believes it has more to do with his meticulous match-day routine.
‘I’m not too superstitious, but I do try to approach match preparation in the same way,’ he told Nieuwsblad recently.
‘Going to bed at the same hour, eating the same food on match day, warming up in the same way, those kinds of things. If that doesn’t happen, I sometimes think “damn!”.’
Just don’t expect Lammens to focus so much on football once the game is over. Off the pitch, he prefers watching the NFL and NBA, and is a big fan of LA Lakers and LeBron James.
‘No, if he ever has free time, he doesn’t want to be involved with football. He already does that every day,’ says Tom.
Senne Lammens penned a five-year deal with Man United on deadline day
The 23-year-old has moved to Old Trafford in a deal worth £21.7million
The two boys grew up in East Flanders, playing football in the garden like most brothers.
‘Him in goal and me just shooting,’ recalls Tom. ‘Even though he was stood in a big goal, it was still hard to score against him. Those reflexes? Incredible.
‘If I ever managed to score, I would dare to tease him. Then it was often quickly game over – but that’s what brothers are for, right?’
Lammens started out as a striker in junior football with RC Bambrugge and FCV Dender before going in goal at the age of 10.
‘When we started playing eight against eight, we had to run more, there was technique training added, you name it. I didn’t really like that,’ he recalled. ‘So, I just went to stand in goal and I enjoyed that surprisingly.’
The young keeper joined Club Brugge two years later where he spent another eight years, on one occasion coming up for a corner to head a late equaliser against Real Madrid in the UEFA Youth League.
Lammens made 64 appearances for Royal Antwerp and was part of the side that won the Belgian Super Cup in 2023
The Belgian keeper is yet to win a senior cap for his country
When he left on a free transfer in 2023 and joined Antwerp, his new club’s director of football Marc Overmars said Lammens would be a £20m keeper one day. Two years later, Overmars’ prediction came true.
United signed the 23-year-old on deadline day for an initial fee of £18.2m plus £3.5m in potential add-ons, even though he only became first-choice at Antwerp last season and has yet to earn a senior cap for Belgium.
The Under-21 international received his first call-up in March, but has been left out of the squad for this week’s World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan because coach Rudi Garcia wants to have a look at Chelsea’s Mike Penders who is on loan at Strasbourg.
United chose Lammens over Emi Martinez after a process that continued until late in the transfer window. In fact, both players sat out their games for Antwerp and Aston Villa at the weekend as they waited for United to call.
In the end, the club decided to go with the potential and promise of Lammens over the Premier League experience of World Cup winner Martinez, as they did in choosing Benjamin Sesko ahead of Ollie Watkins.
Speaking last year about Premier League investing in young talent, Lammens said rather prophetically: ‘In the football world nowadays, clubs like Chelsea buy players even before they are ready only to reap the benefits in the long term.
Man United had considered a move for the experienced Emi Martinez but decided to invest in the future by signing Lammens
‘Soon they will have eight goalkeepers, but I think we will see that more often and more money will be paid for young talent. That can only be positive for me, right?’
Another factor in United’s decision was Martinez’s wages which would have meant United having to sell Jadon Sancho to Villa for a fee rather than sending him on loan, but Sancho rejected a permanent move.
As soon as it became clear on deadline day that Lammens had got the nod, he jumped on a private jet to Manchester to undergo a medical and sign a five-year contract at Old Trafford.
‘It’s a real dream come true,’ he said. ‘The past few years have been an amazing journey. It’s now ended in an incredible destination and hopefully the beginning of something special.’
The 6ft 4in keeper joins a pool that includes Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton with the No.1 spot up for grabs.
Bayindir has been in goal for all three Premier League games, while Onana returned for the Carabao Cup embarrassment at Grimsby Town last week after missing pre-season with a hamstring injury, but neither has made a strong claim to start.
The No 1 goalkeeper spot is still up for grabs at Old Trafford with Andre Onana seemingly out of favour
Altay Bayindir’s performances have been unconvincing so far this season
After United revamped their attack by signing Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, they were keen to recruit a new keeper and Lammens’ stats marked him out as an emerging talent.
Last season, he made 173 saves, more than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s 10 leagues, a joint-top four penalty saves, and the most progressive passes of any keeper under the age of 23.
An ability to pass out from the back, excellent shot-stopping and a boldness to come out and claim high balls have earned comparisons with Belgium’s No.1 Thibaut Courtois.
Indeed, Belgian goalkeeping legend Michel Preud’homme is not alone in predicting that he will be the long-term successor to the former Chelsea man.
‘It’s nice to receive praise, but I keep my feet on the ground,’ said Lammens.
‘As a child, my brother was more passionate and I was less focused on idols. But later on, I certainly started to look up to Courtois because of his reflexes, and also (Marc-Andre) Ter Stegen who is top-notch in playing out from the back.’
Lammens with United’s director of football Jason Wilcox
The goalkeeper began his career with Club Brugge in his homeland
Lammens, who also learned from playing under Simon Mignolet at Brugge, is known for a cool, almost detached demeanour on the pitch.
‘My neutral expression apparently also comes across as if I don’t care or I’m not engaged with other people,’ he admitted. ‘It’s true that I’m someone who is very focused on myself, but it’s not as bad as it seems.
‘They always say that in terms of emotions, I remain on the same level. I’m stable and never go very high or very low. I’m actually glad about that. I think it’s a good quality for a goalkeeper.
‘You must maintain calm to give your defenders and the rest of the team confidence. It’s not the intention to be stressing while standing between the posts.’
Ruben Amorim will be hoping Lammens can help to shore up United’s leaky defence
Soon Lammens will have a chance to bring some calm to United’s defence, although it remains to be seen when Ruben Amorim gives him a debut.
His brother Tom has a selfish reason for celebrating the move to Old Trafford.
‘I’ve been collecting football jerseys for a few years, so I occasionally ask if he can swap one for me,’ he revealed to Nieuwsblad.
‘He absolutely doesn’t like doing that – but it does add to the collection!’
