From a transfer window that was quickly going nowhere to a third bid for Bryan Mbeumo and stepping up efforts to sign a player compared to a two-time Champions League winner!
Only at Manchester United, a club that lives on the extremes, can this happen, and the fan sentiment that goes along with the ride reflects it perfectly.
Man Utd are stepping up efforts to sign Senne Lammens, the Belgian goalkeeper at Antwerp, who was the best in the league last season.
Senne Lammens has been linked to Man Utd for some time now, and Andre Onana’s injury, plus his price tag of around £17m, seems to have made him the top target.
Man Utd fans on Senne Lammens deal
Fans were resigned to another manager falling at the altar of Old Trafford after not being backed in the market, but Ineos have enough credit in the bank still.
United’s financial situation is forcing them into long and uncomfortable negotiations, like for Bryan Mbeumo, or bargain hunting.
Lammens hits the sweet spot where he’s a bargain right now, but with the long-term upside to be a masterful investment.
Standing at 6ft 3in and hailing from Belgium, Man Utd fans anointed him “Baby Courtois” almost immediately.
“Baby Courtois, sign him up immediately,” said one, as another called him “Courtois 2.0”. “He looks excellent,” said a third, getting swept up in the excitement.
Comparisons to the links with Emi Martinez were made as a fourth said, “I like this option way better than Martinez”. Another went starry-eyed over the price tag, “£17m is a great price tag. We should be all over this.”
However, the general fan sentiment was summed up in three words, as many fans said the same thing – ‘better than Onana’.
The Cameroonian has no fan credit in the bank after a disastrous season, and fans’ reaction to Lammens’ link hammered home that message.
“As long as he is better than Onana then bring,” said one, as another said, “He is better than Onana at stopping the ball. That’s it. Bring”.
One said, “You spelt replace wrong,” in response to Lammens coming in to challenge Onana, as another revoked De Gea’s best form, saying, “Now this is the kind of keeper we should be getting, De Gea was always best when he had Romero as backup. Get it done.”
Senne Lammens signing could be sooner than expected
It’s clear to see that the fanbase is fully behind getting a young and exciting goalkeeper on the back of his breakthrough season.
United’s financial condition isn’t such that they can just splurge £17m on a goalkeeper when there are other holes to be filled.
However, if the Mbeumo negotiations were any indication, then this deal could be done sooner than expected.
United dragged the deal for Brentford’s man, and the third bid worth £65m+£5m is likely to be favourable in terms of payment structure.
United might have saved on some immediate spending in favour of paying a higher overall amount. It’s the sort of planning that could have been made keeping in mind that they stretched themselves to the limit.
They would otherwise need sales to complete purchases. But getting favourable terms of payment could open the door for Lammens’ signing.
That would be quite a way to inject some momentum into a lumbering transfer window!
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