Senne Lammens is travelling to England to complete his move to Manchester United after a €21million (£18.2m) deal was struck with Royal Antwerp.
United’s goalkeeping situation has come under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after a shaky start to the season for Altay Bayindir, who has taken over from Andre Onana as Ruben Amorim’s number one.
Amorim has put his faith in Bayindir for United’s three opening games in the Premier League and the Turkey international has, at times, looked out of his depth, especially when dealing with set-pieces.
It was a mistake from Bayindir that gifted Burnley their second goal in the Red Devils’ dramatic 3-2 win at Old Trafford on Saturday, with Bruno Fernandes converting a last-gasp penalty to rescue the hosts.
Bayindir’s repeated errors have forced United’s hierarchy to enter the summer transfer market for a possible solution – and the club have whittled their shortlist down to two names with just hours remaining of the window: Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and Royal Antwerp’s Lammens.
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Both Martinez and Lammens had agreed personal terms with United, but the Red Devils now look set to move forward with a deal for the highly-rated Belgian youngster.
According to The AthleticUnited will pay an initial €21m (£18.2m) fee, plus €4m in add-ons, with Lammens set to sign a five-year contract provided the deal is completed before today’s 7pm deadline.
Earlier in the day, Belgian outlet HLN reported that Lammens and his camp were flying to England with his future still up in the air.
Galatasaray and Aston Villa had also been credited with interest in Lammens, with the latter forced to consider possible replacements for Martinez had the Argentine departed for Old Trafford.
But Lammens now appears set to complete his move to Old Trafford, where he will undoubtedly provide immediate competition for Onana and Bayindir.
The 23-year-old was left out of Antwerp’s last two games against Mechelen and Westerlo, with talks ongoing over his future.
‘Senne is following an individual program,’ Antwerp head coach Stef Willis, told reporters following the side’s defeat of Mechelen.
‘In consultation with all parties. That’s a logical decision.
‘Since this could be a major outgoing transfer, we want to minimise the risk of injuries.’
Amorim has been reluctant to single out Bayindir for criticism this season, simply saying it was ‘hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper’ following the Turk’s latest blunder against Burnley.
‘They are humans. At Manchester United, everything is analysed. Everybody talks about the goalkeeper,’ the Portuguese said.
‘And you can see, I can change the goalkeeper and these situations keep happening. We are in that moment.
‘I think it is hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper in this moment. But if you look at the first goal, we can defend it better.
‘We suffered a quite similar goal against Fulham, because we don’t do the full rotation of the team when the ball is on the other side.
‘All these small things have nothing to do with the goalkeeper.’
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