Senne Lammens has enjoyed a brilliant start to his Premier League career with Manchester United.
The 23-year-old—who arrived from Royal Antwerp for a transfer fee of £18.2 million plus £3.5m in add-ons in August—kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Sunderland on his United debut before the international break.
He then played an important role as United won 2-1 away at fierce rivals Liverpool on Sunday. That was United’s first victory at Anfield since 2016.
It also means that United have now won back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since Ruben Amorim became manager.
Lammens, who is joint-13th on a list of the Premier League’s highest-earning goalkeepers, had to wait patiently for his chance under Amorim.
The Portuguese had opted to start Turkish stopper Altay Bayindir in United’s first six top-flight games this season, having stuck with Andre Onana as his No 1 until the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
But Lammens now appears to have a firm grip on the No 1 spot at Old Trafford.
Senne Lammens’ stats after two Man United games
Senne Lammens has faced nine shots on target in his first two games for United but has only conceded one goal — that was Cody Gakpo’s 78th-minute equaliser for Liverpool on Sunday.
Lammens made three saves against Sunderland on his debut, plus another five at Anfield.
He had 53 touches of the ball against Sunderland and then 55 in the Liverpool game.
In terms of his distribution, Lammens has opted to go long more often than not, rather than playing risky short passes inside his own penalty area. This is reflected in his low pass-success rate, which was 38.6% on his debut and just 21.7% against Liverpool.
Senne Lammens joined Man United from Royal Antwerp in August and has since helped his new team to wins over Sunderland and Liverpool
Man United fans thrilled with Senne Lammens after two games
Many Manchester United fans took to social media following Sunday’s victory over Liverpool to express their delight at the impact Senne Lammens has made in recent weeks.
One United fan account declared: “Senne Lammens, thank you for changing our lives.”
A similar message from a different fan read: “Senne Lammens has done more for Manchester United in 2 matches than Andre Onana in 2 seasons. Senne Lammens is changing millions of lives globally.”
Despite making multiple high-profile errors in a United shirt, Onana saw his wages increase when he joined Trabzonspor on loan in September.
Many of Onana’s errors at United came while trying to play out from the back — something Lammens seems less inclined to do. Seemingly referencing this, one United fan tweeted on Sunday evening: “There is beauty in simplicity. And we’ve (correctly) gone back to a type of goalkeeper who understands it completely.”
Another United fan claimed that Lammens could prove to be one of the club’s best signings in the past decade.
The same fan added: “Sometimes you can just see it in a player. Bruno [Fernandes] just hit the ground running, same with this guy. He can be as good as [David] De Gea, [Peter] Schmeichel or [Edwin] Van Der Sar. He has all the characteristics for it. Long may it continue.”
