Senne Lammens has revealed what Peter Schmeichel told him after the Manchester United legend questioned the club’s decision to sign the goalkeeper.
Ruben Amorim signed Lammens from Antwerp last summer in an £18million transfer to replace the struggling Andre Onana.
The 23-year-old has performed very well so far, keeping a clean sheet on his debut and winning his first three games for the Red Devils, including a memorable 2-1 victory at Anfield.
At the time of his signing, many questioned why United did not pursue a more established keeper, with Schmeichel notably saying he had ‘never heard’ of Lammens.
‘We should have signed Emi Martinez,’ United’s legendary shot-stopper said in September. ‘In fact, we should have gone for Gianluigi Donnarumma when we had the chance.
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‘With Martinez, everything was lined up and that felt like really good news, because he’s exactly the kind of goalkeeper Manchester United should have.
‘As for Lammens, I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of him until the link came up. I know his stats are excellent across the top ten European leagues. But that was with Antwerp in Belgium, in a team that finished fifth.’
Fans have been quick to serenade their new No.1 however, chanting, “Are you Schmeichel in disguise?!”, while even the great Dane has praised his performances.
Speaking ahead of United’s trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Lammens revealed he had a little chat with his predecessor recently and is aware of his criticism over the transfer.
Asked what he told Schmeichel, the Belgian jokingly replied: ‘”Weren’t you the one who said they should have bought Donnarumma or Martinez?”. No, not really!
‘It makes sense that he also had reservations. When I signed, he simply didn’t know me yet. I don’t think he had watched many Antwerp matches.
‘During one of the first matches he came to the sidelines for a little chat. He was very friendly. He tried to make me feel at ease, said I just had to do my thing and give confidence to my defence.’
Lammens went onto say that despite the support from the fans, he cannot be compared to Schmeichel yet, though he hopes to emulate his career.
‘That’s England for you. If things go badly, they can bury you deep, but if things go well, they praise you to the skies,’ he added.
‘I take that with a grain of salt, because to be mentioned in the same sentence as Schmeichel, I’m going to have to prove myself many more times. But I did find it a very nice compliment.
‘I hope to play here for 10 years and be important, so that, like Schmeichel and [Edwin] Van der Sar, I can leave a legacy.’
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