£18 million for a 23-year-old goalkeeper with one full senior season. That’s either smart timing or a roll of the dice. Manchester United’s deadline-day move for Senne Lammens says a lot about where the club is heading: less noise, more planning, and a willingness to back potential when the market is coldest.
Lammens landed in Manchester at midday on deadline day, headed straight to Carrington, and signed a contract to 2030. He called the move a childhood dream and the start of something special—big words, but the bigger story is why United moved now, what they think he can become, and how quickly he can handle the heat that comes with Old Trafford.
Why United moved now
The club’s Director of Football, Jason Wilcox, says there was strong competition for Lammens before United got it over the line. That matters, but the timing matters more. United have been trying to reset their transfer strategy after taking losses on high-fee bets—most recently with Antony and Rasmus Højlund leaving for less than they cost. In that light, £18m for a young goalkeeper with upside is a different kind of risk: smaller fee, longer runway.
From a financial standpoint, the structure works. Spread across a deal that runs to June 2030, the amortized hit is modest for a club of United’s size. Wages for a 23-year-old in his first Premier League job are far lower than for a finished article in his late 20s. If he sticks, they’ve secured a starter for the better part of a decade. If he doesn’t, his age should protect resale value.
The sporting case is clear too. United need stability in goal. André Onana’s high ceiling is obvious, but so are the dips. Altay Bayındır hasn’t made the shirt his. The staff wanted another profile—big frame, clean handling, calmer risk profile, and room to grow. Lammens fits that brief. He’s already shown consistency at Royal Antwerp, where he racked up 64 senior appearances and helped deliver the Belgian Super Cup in 2023. Last season he led the Belgian Pro League in clean sheets and earned a first Belgium call-up in March. He hasn’t been capped yet, but he’s on the radar.
There’s also the calendar. Onana is expected to head to the Africa Cup of Nations in December, opening a clear window for minutes. United didn’t want to hit that stretch with only one trusted option. Buying in September gives the coaching staff months to integrate Lammens before the fixture list tightens and the spotlight brightens.
Then there’s the manager. Ruben Amorim wants a goalkeeper who can live high with the line, play under pressure, and still be a shot-stopper first. His teams press, they compress space, and they demand a keeper who reads the game early and sweeps well. Lammens’ profile—tall, decisive off his line, comfortable enough with the ball to keep build-up calm—ticks those boxes, even if the Premier League will stress-test every part of it.
Zoom out and the signing fits a broader pattern in the modern market. Big clubs are trying to buy potential a year or two before it goes mainstream. City did it with Ederson at 23. Milan with Mike Maignan at 25. Arsenal pivoted to a younger profile with David Raya. You pay more later if you hesitate. United chose not to hesitate.
Risk, reward, and the path to No.1
Let’s be honest: there’s risk. One full season as a No. 1 is a small sample. Lammens hasn’t played European knockout football and has no senior caps. The Premier League moves faster, attacks are more varied, and set pieces are a different kind of war. What worked in Belgium might need rewiring here.
So how do United make the bet smarter? It starts with a plan, not just a signing. Expect a staged integration rather than a straight shootout for the shirt. The staff can control his exposure early—domestic cup ties, rotations around congested weeks, and carefully chosen away days—while the goalkeeper coaches build the details: starting positions behind a higher line, body orientation for quicker resets, and distribution patterns to beat the press.
In practical terms, the first 100 days matter. They’ll focus on three lanes:
- Build-up habits: quick releases, angles to break the first line, and when to go long into wide channels to bypass pressure.
- Box management: commanding set pieces, cleaner traffic handling, and decision timing on crosses against heavier Premier League bodies.
- 1v1 control: narrowing angles earlier, trusting the frame, and avoiding desperation commits that give strikers easy decisions.
Amorim’s back line will help or hurt him. If United defend 15 yards higher, the keeper has to be aggressive in the space behind. That means scanning earlier, sprinting more, and making the first movement before the pass is played, not after. It’s reading the threat, not reacting to it. The coaching staff can model those scenarios every day until they turn automatic.
There’s also the internal competition. Onana will likely return to start once fully fit. He’s been picked for his distribution and bravery, even when it gets messy. Bayındır’s minutes have been limited, but he’s still in the room. Lammens doesn’t need to knock the door down in week one. He needs to chip away at trust—clean games, quiet games, games where the conversation after is about the forwards because the keeper made the hard parts look easy.
What about the dressing room dynamic? Keepers set the mood for a defense. If the new guy flaps at crosses, you see it in the centre-backs’ body language within a match or two. If he claims the first couple cleanly, you see the line hold its nerve higher up the pitch. United’s defenders—who’ve dealt with injuries, form swings, and changing instructions—need predictability. Lammens’ low-drama style at Antwerp is part of the appeal.
There’s a reason United value his size and presence. The Premier League throws elbows at set pieces and tests your fingertips in traffic. Taller keepers aren’t automatically better, but they buy themselves margin on high balls and back-post scrambles. Pair that with solid footwork and timing, and you reduce the ricochet chaos that’s haunted United in certain phases the past two seasons.
Beyond the grass, the club is betting on character. Not the cliché kind, the useful kind: routine, resilience, and a willingness to be coached. United’s staff have leaned harder into process—video-review habits, micro targets per match week, and clear non-negotiables for the role. If Lammens embraces that, he grows. If he resists, he becomes just another name on a long list of signings that looked good on paper.
To keep it grounded, here’s the risk-reward ledger.
- Upside: age curve, league-leading clean sheets last season, first senior international camp, big-frame profile suited to England, relatively low fee for a starter if he lands the job.
- Downside: short résumé, no European knockout sample, immediate pressure if results wobble, and the inevitability of errors being amplified at Old Trafford.
What would success look like this season? Not a Hollywood reel. More like this: 12–15 starts across competitions with calm decision-making, no long error streaks, legit claims on set pieces, a handful of points quietly saved, and genuine debate about who should start when Onana is away. If he reaches that standard, year two becomes a real competition, not just backup duty.
The context around him will shape the outcome. United’s outfield structure is still a work in progress under Amorim. When the press disconnects or the midfield gets stretched, the keeper wears the mess. Give Lammens shorter distances between lines and cleaner passing lanes and you’ll see the goalkeeper he looked like in Antwerp—measured, not frantic.
There’s a developmental angle worth spelling out. The difference between a good Belgian-league keeper and a Premier League-level one often lives in repeatability: same save shape, same footwork rhythm, same call on the same picture 20 times a month. The Premier League gives you more pictures, faster. The keepers who stick are the ones who turn those pictures into routines. Lammens has the raw materials. Now it’s reps.
United’s recruitment team will point to profile and pathway as the key. Six-year deal, entry point that isn’t suffocating, and a schedule that guarantees opportunities when AFCON hits. The analytics group will add that shot quality faced in Belgium and England is different, but certain indicators translate—positioning on cut-backs, handling consistency, and recovery speed after first contact. If those hold, the step up won’t break him.
There’s also the human part. Some keepers shrink when the stadium gets loud; some grow. Lammens talked about Old Trafford as a dream. That matters less on the microphone than it does in the 88th minute of a one-goal game when the Stretford End is demanding a catch, not a punch. The club will know soon enough which way he leans.
If you’re looking for parallels, think of signings that didn’t come as finished products but matured into pillars. Not identical positions, but the logic is similar: buy the talent before the rest of Europe hikes the price. If United tried to buy this version of Lammens a year from now after a continental run and a couple of Belgium caps, they’d pay double and fight three clubs to do it.
None of this means he walks into the team. The shirt is still Onana’s to lose when fit. But the bar for change is lower than it was a year ago because the trust account has taken hits. That’s where Lammens’ opportunity lives. Be boring in the best way. Take crosses. Kill counters. Play the simple pass unless the brave one is truly on. Let the rest of the noise swirl around someone else.
United’s gamble is measured, not wild. A keeper at 23 is years from his peak. The fee is a fraction of the cost for a proven 28-year-old. The contract gives room to breathe. And the squad, patched and rebalanced after expensive exits, needs a long-term solution in goal more than another short-term bandage.
Will it work? The margin is slim, as it always is at this level. A couple of early mistakes, the headlines write themselves. A couple of late saves in tight games, the narrative flips. United aren’t buying a headline. They’re buying time, tools, and a chance that the next long-term No. 1 is already in the building.
Between the price, the profile, and the plan, the move makes sense on paper. The Premier League will decide the rest. If Lammens adapts quickly and United keep the pathway clear, they’ve found value at a position that drains budgets. If not, it’s another lesson in how hard it is to solve the one job on the pitch where you can’t hide.