Senne Lammens is preparing to catch a flight to England imminently as he seeks to push through a move to Manchester United before the transfer deadline.
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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It’s understood Martinez and Lammens have both agreed personal terms with United and the two goalkeepers are desperate to get the green light on a dream move to the Theatre of Dreams.
But United are yet to agree a fee with either Villa or Antwerp and it remains to be seen whether the Premier League giants will be successful in getting a deal over the line for either ‘keeper, with the clock ticking down.
According to Belgian outlet HLN, United are yet to make a final decision between Lammens and Martinez and the 23-year-old Antwerp star was still at the club’s Bosuil Stadium this morning.
But the report suggests Lammens and his camp will ‘soon by flying to England’ as they ‘wait anxiously’ for updates on the shot-stopper’s future, with discussions rumbling on between United and Antwerp.
It’s claimed Galatasaray and Aston Villa remain interested in Lammens, with the latter forced to consider possible replacements for Martinez should the Argentine depart for Old Trafford.
Antwerp are said to have slapped a £17million asking price on Lammens, while Villa are demanding a fee of around £40m for their World Cup-winning number one.
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Lammens has been 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.’
Lammens has two years remaining on his current contract with the Belgian Pro League outfit.
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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