Manchester United have bought Senne Lammens from Antwerp from £18.1m in a bid to solve their goalkeeping crisis.
The 23-year-old has signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford after United saw off interest from several other clubs to recruit him.
They had also considered making a move for Aston Villa’s World Cup winner Emi Martinez at the end of the window after Altay Bayindir and Andre Onana were culpable for goals in three different games already this season.
United noted how Lammens made more saves than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top 10 leagues last season and had one of the best goals prevented metrics, a post-shot expected goals of +14.5.
Lammens said: “I am extremely proud to be joining Manchester United, it is a real dream come true. The past few years have been an amazing journey, it’s now ended in an incredible destination and hopefully the beginning of something special.
“You can feel the positive atmosphere that is being created here, and I know that I can make a real impact at the club in the coming years. I cannot wait to get to know my team-mates and begin working with Ruben [Amorim] and the coaching staff. This is the perfect place to keep developing, grow together with this exciting team and achieve my career objectives.”
United director of football Jason Wilcox added: “Senne is an excellent young goalkeeper with great potential; we are delighted that he has chosen to join Manchester United after significant interest from a number of clubs.”
Lammens becomes United’s fifth summer signing, after they spent £200m on the attackers Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko and also brought in wing-back Diego Leon.
Meanwhile, United also sold winger Antony and loaned out Jadon Sancho and Rasmus Hojlund on a busy deadline day.
