Senne Lammens: Why Man Utd are targeting Thibaut Courtois’ Belgium heir to solve goalkeeping crisis

The Red Devils are pushing to sign the Royal Antwerp shot-stopper amid continued concerns over Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir’s competency

“There is a glaring issue for Manchester United that cannot be ignored and that is they need to find a new goalkeeper. They have to, I am absolutely unequivocal on that,” Red Devils legend Gary Neville told Sky Sports after seeing an awful error from Altay Bayindir gift Arsenal a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.

“It is really unsettling when you don’t have a dominant No.1 who owns his six-yard box, who comes and punches everything and makes saves to save you points when your defenders make mistakes. They need to sort the goalkeeper out as they will continue to concede goals and points and it undermines what they are doing.”

Despite that mistake, Bayindir also got the nod in goal for United in their 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday, with Andre Onana left on the bench. Head coach Ruben Amorim stuck with Onana as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper initially after arriving at Old Trafford last November, but the calamitous Cameroonian is no longer a guaranteed starter, having been just as unreliable as he was under Erik ten Hag throughout 2023-24.

For the time being, Amorim has decided that Bayindir is the lesser of two evils, with 39-year-old Tom Heaton still seen as nothing more than a back-up option, but Neville is absolutely right: United cannot progress until they sign a new No.1. Fortunately, work is being done behind the scenes to address the most glaring issue in the squad.

The Old Trafford recruitment team has honed in on 23-year-old Royal Antwerp ‘keeper Senne Lammens, who was left out of his team’s latest Belgian top-flight game against Mechelen after reportedly agreeing personal terms with United. According to The Guardian, Lammens is set to complete a £17 million ($23m) move to Manchester before the summer window slams shut on September 1.

That will be a very small price to pay if he solves the club’s long-standing crisis between the sticks. Below, GOAL assesses whether the undeniably talented Lammens is truly up to that daunting task.

Where it all began

Lammens was born on July 7, 2002 in the Belgian city of Zottegem. He took his first steps into football at the age of five, joining local side KRC Bambrugge, and spent three years on their books before catching the eye of professional outfit Dender.

From there, the youngster developed at a rapid rate, and in 2014, he was snapped up by Club Brugge, historically the second-biggest club in Belgium behind Anderlecht. Just four years later, a 16-year-old Lammens was named in Brugge’s first team squad for a Champions League group-stage clash with Atletico Madrid, though that did not turn out to be his breakthrough moment.

Brugge resisted the temptation to throw Lammens in at the deep end before he was ready. They had no desire to rush his development, particularly after signing ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in the summer of 2019. However, in December that year, Lammens made headlines across Europe.