In Senne Lammens, Manchester United might finally have a goalkeeper for the future
Manchester United might finally have a goalkeeper for the future in Senne Lammens. His debut against Sunderland was not particularly special, it was just… comfortable, something that Manchester United fans have not felt about a goalkeeper in a long time.
It was a first look at a 23-year-old who looked immediately comfortable with the responsibility of Old Trafford, who claimed crosses with ease and who finished with the club’s first clean sheet of the season. By the time the Stretford End were chanting “Are you Schmeichel in disguise?” the tone of United’s autumn going into the international break had shifted from majorly anxious to quietly optimistic.
Senne Lammens will seek to remove the ghosts of Andre Onana
Who is Senne Lammens?
Lammens is a 1.93-metre Belgian who came through Club Brugge’s academy, played senior minutes with Club NXT and Brugge, then accelerated at Royal Antwerp. He has been in Belgium’s youth teams and was called into the senior squad last season. United moved for him late in the window after a move for Emiliano Martinez didn’t transpire.
At Antwerp he developed the reputation of a proactive box defender, more catcher than puncher, and a confident penalty-area presence behind a back line that often held a high line. He arrived at United with competitive experience and a style that suggests he can grow with a young core rather than simply surviving behind it.
OFFICIAL ✅: Manchester United have signed Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for a fee of €21M 🧤🇧🇪🔴
— 365Scores (@365Scores) September 1, 2025
The 22-year-old joins on a long-term contract, becoming United’s latest addition to strengthen their squad 💪✨ pic.twitter.com/DGKfhTehor
A debut framed by a needed clean sheet
United beat Sunderland 2-0 at Old Trafford as goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Šeško delivered early control. The broader significance was at the other end. This was United’s first clean sheet of the league season. Most excitingly for fans, it came with a new goalkeeper who did not flinch when the game became scrappy and who completed the unglamorous tasks that have been missing in too many recent home games.
The pattern of the match helped. United defended higher in the first half, then protected space conservatively after the break. That gave Lammens two distinct problems to solve. He handled both without fuss.
Assured when claiming, calm when everything is loud
The applause peaks at Old Trafford often arrive when a keeper makes the hard look easy. Lammens had several of those. He was assured and confident in claiming the ball, especially on crosses after first contact. In the first half he read an outswinger early, took it at the top of his jump, then immediately slowed the game to re-set the team’s shape. Later, with Sunderland pushing, he came through bodies to collect a high ball that would have invited a volley a week ago. Claiming cleanly is not just an aesthetic preference. It cuts out second-phase shots, cools a crowd, and calms a back four still learning each other.
The distribution hints
United asked him to mix. Short passes to Luke Shaw and Matthijs de Ligt were used to draw the first line, then he went longer to Šeško or into the right channel for Amad. The choices were sensible rather than spectacular, which is exactly what a debut requires. The standout long delivery came late in the first half, a flat driven ball that turned Sunderland and let United squeeze 40 metres up the pitch. Lammens will have cleaner days with the ball than his 41% pass accuracy, but there was no panic and no rush to force hero passes.
Where this leaves United’s goalkeeping picture
United’s recruitment has pointed toward renewal. De Ligt and Leny Yoro change the centre-back conversation. A goalkeeper in the same age bracket completes the defensive timeline. Lammens does not need to be perfect. He needs to be predictable in the right ways, a keeper who thins out the number of shots opponents can generate from second balls, who resets tempo with distribution rather than escalating risk, and who gives the dressing room the feeling that one goal will often be enough.
The shape of United’s season will still be defined by chance creation and what happens between the lines. Yet a reliable base helps all of that. If Lammens claims crosses the way he did here, the midfield can hold more aggressive positions. If he wins the one-on-ones, United can absorb the occasional bad five minutes without the table punishing them.
The small-sample caveat, and why this still matters
One clean sheet does not fix a season. Sunderland mounted a late push but did not sustain pressure for long periods. There will be away days that ask different questions, such as Liverpool at Anfield immediately after the international break, and there will be games where United’s build-up requires their keeper to thread riskier passes. The point of Saturday was not to crown Lammens. It was to establish that the tools the club believed in have transferred to England. The two saves at the end of both halves mattered. The clean handling under the crossbar mattered. The big-ground composure mattered.
There is a quiet promise in this kind of debut. A new goalkeeper did the simple things. The stadium noticed. The Stretford End sang. If United want to move from turbulence to something steadier, that is how it usually starts, with a keeper who makes you feel that the final minutes will be about applause rather than alarms.
By Nicky Helfgott – NickyHelfgott1 on X (Twitter)
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