Senne Lammens secured a dramatic deadline day transfer to Manchester United in the final hours of the summer transfer window.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper described the switch to Old Trafford as fulfilling a “childhood dream” after he put pen to paper on a five-year deal with the Red Devils.
But Royal Antwerp are not happy with their star player’s actions on Monday to force through the move, according to a report from Belgium.
A deadline day dash
After a week of protracted negotiations, United finally reached a €25 million agreement with Antwerp – €22m up front with €3m in add-ons – to sign Lammens.
But Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Niews (relayed by Sports Witness) reveals the Belgium U-21 international had already begun travelling to Manchester before the deal was struck between the two clubs.
United had already agreed personal terms with Lammens earlier in the day. He then he boarded a private jet to fly to England to complete the move.
The report states Lammens was “theoretically not allowed to travel, but he did so anyway,” leading to “some resentment” amongst Antwerp officials at their goalkeeper’s decision.
There was interest in Lammens from other clubs with both Aston Villa and Galatasaray having made advances at the same time as United. Het Laatste Niews even claims the Villans’ proposal was higher than the one United had tabled on Sunday evening.
It’s evident, therefore, why Antwerp would have been unhappy with Lammens’ actions to force through a move to United as it weakened their negotiating position by Monday morning.
A Safe Pair of Hands
From United’s perspective, the club will simply be happy they secured a long-term target carefully selected by the recruitment department in a significant problem position for Ruben Amorim.
Neither Andre Onana nor Altay Bayindir have performed well since the Portuguese coach’s arrival last November to replace Erik ten Hag. And both goalkeeper’s dismal form has continued at the start of the new campaign.
There was a desperate need for a new shot stopper at the Theatre of Dreams – and Lammens represents one of the most highly-regarded goalkeeping prospects throughout Europe.
The fact he was willing to go to extreme lengths to secure a “dream” switch to United should only encourage fans.
Feature image Octavio Passos via Getty Images
Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
