Senne Lammens: Manchester United's Unshakeable No.1
Manchester United’s 25/26 season produced its share of chaos, but one story cut through the noise: Senne Lammens.
When INEOS signed the Belgian from Royal Antwerp for an initial £18 million, most United fans had to Google him. He arrived without fanfare, behind Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir in the pecking order, at a club that had forgotten what a calm goalkeeper looked like.
By the end of his first campaign, he was not only United’s No.1, he was in Belgium’s World Cup squad.
A rise, a mistake, and a storm
Lammens’ debut season at Old Trafford was everything United had been missing in goal: composure, presence, reliability. While Onana and Bayindir struggled, the 24-year-old stepped in and settled a jittery back line almost overnight.
His reward came in the summer. Belgium called him up for the World Cup, a remarkable leap for a keeper who had only just broken through at club level.
Thibaut Courtois started every game and, as expected, held the shirt. Then came the quarter-final against Spain. Courtois went off injured, and suddenly the United man was standing under the brightest lights football can offer.
It went badly.
With the game on a knife-edge, Pau Cubarsí let fly from distance. Lammens failed to hold the shot, spilling it into a dangerous area. Mikel Merino reacted first and stabbed home in the 88th minute. Belgium were out.
One mistake, one rebound, one nation in shock.
The backlash was immediate. Belgian fans vented their fury, and the country’s media turned on the ex-Club Brugge youth product. The World Cup stage that had looked like a springboard turned into a trial.
United’s response – and Lammens’ answer
Back in Manchester, the mood was very different. A club that has seen its share of World Cup scapegoats braced itself to protect their new No.1.
United were ready to rally around him, aware of how brutal the fallout from a single high-profile error can be. Many of their former stars had lived that reality.
They didn’t need to.
According to a report in The Sun, those inside the club have been stunned by how little the World Cup howler seems to have affected him. No sulking. No crisis of confidence. No visible scars.
“United insiders have been struck by how unflappable Lammens has remained upon his return to club duty,” the piece claimed, with a senior club source describing the Belgian as “excellent” since coming back.
He has the No.1 shirt now, handed to him after Altay Bayindir’s departure on loan. It suits him. So does the responsibility.
United staff don’t just think he has recovered from the mistake. They believe he has improved because of it.
Early evidence in the Premier League
The first two Premier League games of the new season have backed that up.
United lost to Hull City, but the scoreline would have been far uglier without Lammens. He stood up to wave after wave of pressure, making a string of important saves that kept his side alive long after the game had tilted against them.
Against Ipswich Town, he was decisive again. A couple of sharp stops, good command of his box, and the same calm demeanour that first won over the dressing room.
No sign of a keeper haunted by a World Cup memory. Just a 24-year-old who has taken the worst moment of his career and turned it into fuel.
United wanted stability in goal. They paid £18 million for a project.
They might have found a mentality monster instead.
