Manchester United are keen to keep the ball rolling on transfers after completing a deal to sign Bryan Mbeumo.
The Red Devils are understood to be keeping an eye on prospective goalkeeping targets.
Aston Villa No.1 Emiliano Martinez is thought to be an appreciated quantity at Carrington. However, Ruben Amorim’s men are also said to be keen admirers of Royal Antwerp shotstopper Senne Lammens.
Manchester United make contact over Senne Lammens transfer
The goalkeeper position has posed an ongoing issue for United’s decision-makers since David de Gea’s ill-advised exit in 2023 at the end of his contract.
To say the club has struggled to find a suitable long-term replacement since that point would be a gross understatement.
Criticism of his successor, Andre Onana, whilst perhaps a little over-inflated at times, has been more than warranted. This leads commentators and United fans keenly down the path of speculation.
One name that is quickly gathering pace at Old Trafford is that of Senne Lammens (23). Fabrizio Romano now reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the Belgian Pro League stopper was the subject of ‘initial contact’ from the Premier League giants.
The interest arguably couldn’t be more timely considering the fact that United No.1 Onana is set to miss pre-season with a hamstring injury.
What business have Man United completed already?
With Mbeumo now at Carrington ahead of his move being officially signed, sealed and delivered this weekend, it takes United to three deals completed.
The Red Devils have already completed moves for Diego Leon and Matheus Cunha.
Why do Manchester United need a new goalkeeper?
It should be emphasised that Andre Onana is far from being the worst goalkeeper to grace the Premier League.
That said, he can hardly be objectively considered a shotstopper of the desired quality to take United back into the top four and, eventually, challenge for titles.
The stats paint a kinder picture than one might reasonably expect of the former Inter Milan ‘keeper.
| Players | Goals prevented |
| Jordan Pickford | 6.2 |
| Matz Sels | 4.5 |
| Ederson | 4.5 |
| Dean Henderson | 2.1 |
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | 2.1 |
| Robert Sanchez | 2.1 |
| Alisson Becker | 2.1 |
| David Raya | 2 |
| Emiliano Martinez | 1.2 |
| Guglielmo Vicario | 0.6 |
| Andre Onana | 0.5 |
* Premier League goalkeeper stats from the 2024/25 campaign, via Fotmob
Relying on the “goals prevented” metric, which is a reasonable judge of a goalkeeper’s worth, we can see Onana comes in at 11th in the English top-flight from the 2024/25 season.
So bang in the middle – but not quite the cream of the crop.
How does Lammens compare to Andre Onana?
Obviously, one has to bear in mind the clear quality disparity between the Premier League and Belgium’s Pro League.
Still, Lammens stands out as one of the top-performing goalkeepers in Belgium following his exploits in 2024/25.
| Players | Goals prevented |
| Colin Coosemans | 18.8 |
| Davy Roef | 17.0 |
| Senne Lammens | 15.6 |
* Belgian Pro League goalkeeper stats from the 2024/25 campaign, via Fotmob
Colin Coosemans (32) and Davy Roef (31), for comparison, are also considerably more experienced operators than their 23-year-old counterpart at Royal Antwerp.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that Senne Lammens faced the second-most shots in the competition last term per 90 (4.3) compared to Coosemans at 3.6 and Roef at 4.4.
So this at least points to the strong likelihood that the Belgian is a quite competent shotstopper.
