Man Utd keeper scout Coton: I'd watched Lammens since 2019

Man Utd keeper scout Coton: I'd watched Lammens since 2019

Manchester United goalkeeper scout Tony Coton admits he's been following Senne Lammens since 2019.

Coton's recommendation was key as United swooped for Lammens last summer from Royal Antwerp.

"In 2019, he first came onto my radar, at Brugge," revealed Coton to manutd.com. "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."

Asked about what impressed him during scouting missions, Coton also stated: "I saw somebody that loved to protect his goal, defend his goal.

"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."