Senne Lammens 'surprised' by Sir Alex Ferguson's comments about him

Senne Lammens has already caught the eye of a legendary Manchester United figure (Picture: Getty Images)

Senne Lemmens couldn’t believe it when he heard Alex Ferguson had special praise for him, after the legendary Manchester United manager hailed the ‘outstanding’ goalkeeper.

The 23-year-old arrived from Royal Antwerp in the summer transfer window in a move which divided opinions.

Iconic Red Devils ‘keeper Peter Schmeichel questioned the signing, suggesting his former club should have been bringing in a more experienced goalkeeper to replace the outgoing Andre Onana .

Lammens wasn’t thrown straight into the team but has impressed since Ruben Amorim handed him his first start against Sunderland in the Premier League.

The Belgian, who has now made six appearances for the club, quickly caught the eye of Ferguson who really likes what he has seen from him.

‘The manager has had some good signs,’ Ferguson told Raceday RTV earlier this month . ‘Particularly the goalkeeper has been outstanding, he’s only played three or four games and he’s looking really good.

‘Of course, [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Matheus] Cunha, the new players from Wolves and Brentford , they’ve added to it.

Lammens won his first cap for Belgium this month (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I hope the manager gets a bit of success because at United, you need to have success. The signs are getting better.’

Those comments came before Monday night’s disappointing defeat at home to Everton, but United had mustered up a five-match unbeaten streak before then.

Lammens was blown away to hear the praise from the Scot, recognising what a huge figure he is at Manchester United and in football as a whole.

‘Yeah, I read it somewhere and, at first, I couldn’t really believe it, to be honest,’ said the goalkeeper of Ferguson’s praise.

Alex Ferguson picked out the ‘keeper as an exciting signing (Picture: Getty Images)

‘He is such a big name and especially at this club, so I was a little bit surprised, but it felt really, really good, to be honest.

‘I haven’t met him yet, so I’m looking forward to that as well. But coming from him, yeah, it’s really nice to hear as well, someone with so much experience and such a big name at this club. It’s only good to hear.’

Amorim talked up what Lammens has brought to the team before the 1-0 loss to the Toffees, praising his demeanour.

‘He is still really shy, but really composed,’ Amorim told Sky Sports . ‘He is the same inside the pitch, really calm, always in control and a really nice guy but not shy there.

‘We play our best games with Senne. very different in these last 5 games. Senne helped us a lot with that confidence and brought calmness to the team.’

Ruben Amorim eased Lammens in after his arrival (Picture: Getty Images)

Making the step up from the Belgian Pro League to the Premier League is some jump and Lammens thanked Amorim for leaving him on the bench for a spell, before bringing him in to replace Altay Bayindir.