Senne Lammens joins Man Utd in £18.2m deal to give Ruben Amorim huge new headache

The Belgian goalkeeper travelled to Manchester on Monday to complete his move from Royal Antwerp and has signed a five-year deal with United

Manchester United have moved to address their goalkeeper crisis on deadline day by signing Senne Lammens for £18.2million plus add-ons.

United decided to recruit a new No.1 after mistakes from Altay Bayindir and Andre Onana at the start of the season – and decided on Lammens.

The 23-year-old Belgian travelled to Manchester on Monday to complete his move from Royal Antwerp and has signed a five-year deal with United.

Lammens said: “I’m extremely proud to be joining Manchester United, it’s a real dream come true. The past few years have been an amazing journey, it’s now ended in an incredible destination and hopefully the beginning of something special.

“You can feel the positive atmosphere that is being created here, and I know that I can make a real impact at the club in the coming years. I cannot wait to get to know my team-mates and begin working with Ruben and the coaching staff.

“This is the perfect place to keep developing, grow together with this exciting team and achieve my career objectives.”

United also managed to offload three more members of Ruben Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’, with Rasmus Hojlund joining Napoli on a season-long loan, Jadon Sancho moving to Aston Villa on loan and Antony making a permanent move to Real Betis.

As part of their loan agreement for Hojlund, Serie A winners Napoli have an obligation to buy the Denmark striker – who cost United £72m two years ago – for £38m next summer if they qualify for the Champions League.

The United hierarchy considered a move for Aston Villa’s 32-year-old keeper Emiliano Martinez, but decided on Lammens because of his younger profile.

Martinez would also have cost United twice as much as Lammens and would also have demanded wages in the region of £200,000-a-week.

Against that backdrop, and with United needing to spend cautiously to comply with PSR rules having already spent more than £200m this this summer, Lammens was considered the best option.

Another factor in United signing Lammens is understood to have been Sancho’s unwillingness to join Villa on a permanent basis. United needed to get a fee for Sancho to cover Martinez’s wages, but the winger would only go on loan, meaning United could only afford to move for Lammens.

There is no sell-on clause in the deal agreed for Lammens, who United view as a goalkeeper who can grow into the role as first-choice and become a mainstay in the team for a number of years.

“I think it’s hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper at this moment,” said Amorim, after Saturday’s last-gasp 3-2 Premier League win over Burnley, with another erratic performance from Bayindir underlining the need to bring in a new No.1.

With the arrival of Lammens, United now have four keepers on their books in Bayindir, Onana and Tom Heaton.

Sources close to Onana have said he intends to stay and fight for the No.1 spot, which makes it likely Bayindir will go out on loan for the rest of the season or seek a permanent switch.

Lammens joined Antwerp on a free transfer from Club Brugge in 2023 and went on to make 64 appearances, winning the Belgian Super Cup in 2023.

He has yet to earn a senior cap for Belgium, but received his first full international call-up back in March and is seen as the long-term successor to Thibaut Courtois.

Lammens made 30 appearances in the Belgian Pro League last season, keeping seven clean sheets, and is considered one of the most exciting young keepers in Europe.

But there will be no hiding place for him at United, where the focus and scrutiny is relentless, with his first game set to be the Manchester derby against City at the Etihad Stadium on September 14.

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