Senne Lammens reveals Tom Heaton’s surprise impact on his rise | OneFootball

Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens has detailed Tom Heaton’s influence on his breakthrough at the club.

Safe pair of hands

Lammens joined United on the last day of the summer transfer window in an £18.2million deal from Royal Antwerp.

United dipped into the market and secured his services after Andre Onana lost his place in the team and it became abundantly clear that Altay Bayindir could not be relied upon to be the number one. Lammens had to wait for his opportunities, only making his debut in October. He kept a clean sheet as United beat Sunderland 2-0 at Old Trafford.

The Belgian has never looked back, establishing himself as a reliably steady presence in goal. Having made few to no errors, he has brought a sense of calm and composure that was sorely lacking under his predecessors.

Lammens has caught the eye with his incredible shot-stopping, while he has also shown himself to be brilliant on the ball.

Signed in a window that brought in the attacking talents of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo, the young Belgian was the unglamorous addition. Yet, his impact has proven just as vital. In Lammens, United appear to have secured their number one for the next ten years.

He spoke to Ben Foster on the Fozcast podcast and credited Heaton for his key role in his rise.

Lammens credits Heaton

Lammens said, “He’s been really helpful. He helped me a lot the first couple of weeks especially to get me like eased in.”

“It’s always nice to have someone who knows so much about the Premier League and this club and everything in between, to help me out when I need to but also to help me to relax and joke around sometimes. Coming from him, it’s a good feeling.”

The 23-year-old added, “Still today, at almost 40 years old, I can still see him in training, so I can only imagine in his prime how good he was. For a Belgian guy, he didn’t really have the recognition probably in the world. Especially, the most important thing, every team-mate you speak to about – or even his team-mates now in training – the way they talk about him, his qualities on the pitch, but even more so his qualities off the pitch, as the guy he is.”

“Probably why our friendship has grown so much is because we’re a bit similar as well in every aspect – I can see a lot of myself in him. And it’s the same the other way around, he tells me a lot: ‘you’re so much like me when I was younger.'”

“He knows what I’m thinking in every situation almost, so that’s also where he helps me, maybe in more difficult situations, or when I’m doing really well, in those situations, trying to help me not get too outside of my head.”

Lammens hails Fernandes

Lammens also had words of praise for Bruno Fernandes, naming the skipper as the best trainer at the club.

The United shot-stopper said about Fernandes, “I think that’s why he’s been the way he is all these years is just the guy you see on the pitch every Saturday. You also see on training every day.”

Asked who has the hardest shot in training, Lammens answered, “Benjamin Sesko. It’s crazy sometimes. You know, as a goalkeeper, when people are like five yards in front of you, you don’t really want to swat the ball.”

“He still does it sometimes. And I’m just thinking, easy, relax.”

Lammens and his teammates are next in action on Sunday when they host Aston Villa at the Theatre of Dreams. The game kicks off at 2pm.

Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images

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