When will £18m Lammens get his chance at Man Utd?

On the day of the transfer deadline, Senne Lammens’ deal, “Will-he, won’t-he move to Manchester United,” was one of the more intriguing ones.

United had identified Lammens as a potential goalkeeper early in the window, but the Premier League team didn’t make their decision until the day’s deadline.

The 23-year-old Royal Antwerp player was still on his way to England, making sure he was in the right place “just in case” a deal was reached.

Five hours after the window closed, and long after Aston Villa’s World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez had given up on making a move to Old Trafford, having also been put on alert by United’s renewed interest in him, the deal was finally announced at 10pm.

Lammens described his £18.1 million switch as “a dream come true.” He added that he hoped it would mark “the beginning of something special.”

First of all, Lammens has no idea what he has done wrong.

According to sources, the Belgium Under-21 international has excelled in training and has a positive outlook overall.

Lammens is described as having a composed presence, being mature for his kind, and enjoying his new surroundings. He has already moved somewhere, which can be disruptive in its own right.

Tom Heaton, United’s third-round goalkeeper, backed up this assertion in an interview with the Podcasting Ground Guru: “He has a strong personality.

His fundamentals of goalkeeping are impressive. After a few days of training, I said that to him. He has already done a lot of impressive work.

United sources wanted to emphasize that he had been acquired with an eye on the future around his signing rather than Martinez.

His performance was impressive. No player saved more penalties than Lammens’ four in the Belgian Pro League last season, as he made 30 appearances and kept seven clean sheets and recorded 173 saves, which is 20 more than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top ten leagues.

According to data analysts Opta, Lammens had a passing accuracy of 71% and a save percentage of 77.4%. Additionally, they claimed that 18.4 of his “goals prevented” total was.

Toby Alderweireld, a former Belgium and Tottenham defender, said, “Senne is young and has a big frame.” He’ll suit perfectly in England.

With only a single full season as the club’s number one goalkeeper and 57 senior appearances to his credit, Lammens was unsure whether he would be drafted right into the United first team in the fiery atmosphere of a Manchester derby on September 14.

Amorim explained why in his press conference a few days earlier, but he wasn’t until he was.

He has a lot of potential, but we also need to consider the present, and the goalkeeper needs to be extremely strong and experienced, he said.

It is a different league, different nation, and different ball.

Altay Bayindir, a Turkish international, won six of the previous seven Premier League games and all three of this season, staying in his place after falling to 3-0, and keeping it for the victory over Chelsea on September 20 with Trevoh Chalobah’s 80th-minute header into the corner giving the keeper no chance.

Few people believe the former United star, who cost United £4.3 million in 2023, is capable of filling the position on a full-time basis despite Amorim’s prediction that Bayindir and Lammens will battle for the top spot.

In terms of save percentage (50%), Bayindir ranks 16th out of the goalkeepers who have made more than two Premier League appearances this year, Opta claims. His home victories at Arsenal and Burnley resulted in eight goals conceded this season, more than his expected goals conceded figure of 7.14, which places him 17th in the league and far behind Fulham’s Bernd Leno, who conceded 2.15 goals fewer than he should.

Long pass accuracy is at 18th and passing accuracy at 17th respectively.

All of these figures strongly support the theory that Lammens should have his chance rather than when.

Amorim must be cautious when choosing the right day because a subpar performance could turn Lammens off because he has chosen to keep his newcomer out of the firing line so far.

United’s elimination from League Two Grimsby before Lammens even arrived has made the selection problem more difficult.

This implies that there won’t be a “soft landing” like in a less competitive competition, and that the assimilation period’s immediate consequences wouldn’t be as bad.

In the Premier League International Cup game at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, United opted not to name Lammens as an overage player.

It would have given Lammens a firsthand experience playing under floodlights at the main stadium, which is unusual for someone to make the first-team squad if they were primarily playing for Travis Binnion’s Under-21 squad.

The 1,600-person crowd, which was only a fraction of what the first team received, is comparable to the 6,456 who attended Lammens’ final senior game against Royal Antwerp at Charleroi in the Belgian Pro-League.

Therefore, Lammens appears to be set to make his next competitive appearance in the Premier League when the opposition manager won’t need a single invitation to target a rookie until United’s FA Cup campaign kicks off in January.

Roy Carroll, a former United goalkeeper, has urged caution against anticipating too much.

The Northern Irishman pleaded with the 23-year-old to allow him to grow as a Manchester United goalkeeper.

When David de Gea arrived, we did it for him. Before joining Manchester United, he was a young, successful goalkeeper.