“We had a deal”: United hijacked move for 23-yo sensation despite PL rivals’ higher bid

Manchester United landed Senne Lammens for a discount price in the final days of the summer transfer window.

Last season, Lammens established himself as one of Europe’s most highly-rated goalkeeping prospects, impressing with his shot-stopping skills at Royal Antwerp.

No goalkeeper made more saves in Europe’s top 10 leagues last term than the 23-year-old Belgian.

Accordingly, a number of clubs, including Galatasaray, showed interest in his services in the summer.

Royal Antwerp had a deal with Aston Villa

In an interview with Belgian newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen (via Sport Witness), Antwerp’s director of football Marc Overmars spoke about the late departure, revealing Aston Villa had struck an agreement with them before United.

“When Manchester United wanted Senne Lammens, we said: ‘Listen, we’re not Brighton or Brentford, with whom you have to negotiate for weeks.’ With us, things have to move quickly,” he said.

“With Manchester United, we started as losers on deadline day. We had a deal with Aston Villa, but Martínez still had to leave, and Senne didn’t want to go there. Only then did Man United make their first offer. Lower than Aston Villa. Four hours later, we finally reached an agreement.”

Lammens desire helped United sign the Antwerp star for a fee of €21million (£18.2m) plus €4m in add-ons on deadline day.

New goalkeeper wasn’t a priority at United initially

United’s relaxed approach in this pursuit could be explained by the fact that a new goalkeeper wasn’t on Ruben Amorim’s list of priorities at the start of the summer.

Andre Onana’s pre-season antics and the club’s frustrating start to the season led to Ineos accelerating their efforts to sign a new shot-stopper.

Further, The Athletic claim that Lammens was not scouted with the expectation of becoming United’s number one from the get-go.

With Onana, who has been sent to Trabzonspor, now out of the picture, Amorim may sooner rather than later rely on his new recruit, especially as Altay Bayındır has looked vulnerable between the sticks in the Premier League. 

Feature image Octavio Passos via Getty Images

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