The secrets of the Lammens transfer

The 23-year-old arrived from Royal Antwerp before the summer transfer deadline and has since become a regular in the side, also earning his first two senior caps for Belgium.

During his appearance on the Inside Carrington podcast, Coton explained the process behind choosing Lammens, ahead of other potential targets, and the work behind the scenes that was carried out to ensure the right man had been identified.

With interest from other clubs intensifying, United wrapped up the deal, as Andre Onana left on loan for Trabzonspor.

"In 2019, he first came onto my radar, at Brugge," revealed Coton. "I'd seen him play for Belgium Under-17s and we didn't think it was the right time to do anything.

"Obviously, he was very raw, so I just followed his progress. We didn't think he was ready to come to us but we'd just keep abreast of it. 

"In fact, I think I was at Aston Villa, when I first found out about him. I was at Villa, as chief scout, and he got brought to my attention.

"Then, when I came back here, I followed him even more. I've seen his progress at Brugge and then, obviously, he went to Antwerp. When he breaks in, it was just a matter of how long do you leave it? I watched him in I don't know how many games over a year."

When asked to describe his first impressions of a young Lammens, Coton explained how he was well-suited to modern goalkeeping.

"I saw somebody that loved to protect his goal, defend his goal," he said. "I looked at somebody that... it hurt him when a goal went in, you know, it meant something because he conceded. He wasn't happy.

"Physically, he was good for that age and you're knowing there's more to come. So, the first thing was protecting the goal, and then what had come into the game was in-possession. Their in-possession game. Goalkeepers were more required to be playing out from the back and things like that.

"It was just the start of that. I will say, even from an early age, you really have to look at him and analyse him, to see which was his stronger foot.

"It was looking at that, just monitoring him and following up with my contacts. I would think from an early onset, physically, at his age, he was good in the possession game and had a desire to defend the goal.

"There was a period of time where I hadn't seen him a while but had a look at his growth and he was progressing in the right way. I came back here and he got brought up again, and we were following the international pathways through the Under-17s, Under-18s, Under-19s, and then Brugge and then Antwerp and the rest is history."

Meeting the keeper in person only further convinced Coton that we had the right man in our sights.

"When we had to present to sign him, obviously, we'd done all the due diligence and everything," he added. "And we went to present to him why we think it's the right time to move, and he had got interest from a lot of clubs in Europe.

"I wanted to see his concentration levels if, when I'm talking, he is looking elsewhere. Is he looking at the video still and this, that and the other? And he was just locked. He was just locked onto me and I'm thinking: 'Yeah, he's got a real focus'. And I'd seen that in his game.

"Coming into the team, they asked me could he go straight into the team and I said: 'Yes, straight away'. I had to say that anyway because I'd recommended him!

"No, I said I'd got no qualms about him going into the team, if needed, and it came, what, four games [in] maybe and then we played Sunderland and Liverpool and everyone was going 'wow'. I wasn't shocked. As I say, I do the personality things and he is like his father. His father is so sort of grounded and a lot of dads get carried away with it all. But his father was just really low-key, so it didn't surprise me he took to it like he's done."

Lammens will return to Carrington after international duty and prepare for a training camp in Dublin, before the Reds finally get back in Premier League action, when Leeds United come to Old Trafford on Monday 13 April.

Coton believes there is still work to be done as our no.31 continues to improve and properly feels at home in England.

"He's got all the tools," stated our scout. "All the tools and he's got the mental capacity to cope with it, as we've seen.

"I don't want to compare him to anyone. He is Senne Lammens and he is himself. If he keeps working as hard as he is doing and, if we get those little things tidied up, he can be one of the world's best. I'm sure he can."