Prolonged international break gives Manchester United’s Senne Lammens a chance to prove himself as the successor to Thibaut Courtois

Prolonged international break gives Manchester United’s Senne Lammens a chance to prove himself as the successor to Thibaut Courtois Over the past few years, Belgium have been blessed with a plethora of talented goalkeepers. While Thibaut Courtois has ranked as one of the best in the world, the Belgian national team has been able to back up him with the likes of Koen Casteels and Matz Sels , both starters in top five leagues during that period. With the ‘golden generation’ of the 2010s now starting to fade away, Belgium have a new young crop of goalkeepers coming through. Their potential is high, and it looks like the Red Devils are set to have another crop of highly talented goalkeepers for the foreseeable future. Courtois has not yet hung up his gloves for the Belgian national team, but as he won’t be competing in all the qualifiers and nation league games, it gives an opportunity to some of these younger goalkeepers to put themselves forward as his successor. With Mark van Bommel set to debut as Belgium’s new head coach this week, it looks like the first goalkeeper to get the chance to prove himself will be Manchester United’s number one Senne Lammens. Lammens begun his career with Club Brugge, but with the path to the first team too congested, he left to join Antwerp in 2023. By the end of the 2023/2024 season, he was the sides number one. The manager during that season? Mark van Bommel. Lammens will certainly want to show van Bommel and the Belgian public that he is the heir to Courtois, especially after his introduction at the World Cup was hardly spectacular. Coming off the bench to replace the injured Real Madrid goalkeeper, Lammens made a mistake which saw Belgium lose to eventual winners Spain. Back at Manchester United, Lammens has not had a hugely successful start to the new Premier League season. That certainly hasn’t been helped by his side being inconsistent to start the season either. Manchester United have only kept one clean sheet this season, which came in the Champions League against Sabah, with the 24-year-old Lammens not called into action too much. Should Lammens fail to take his chance, there are other options for van Bommel and Belgium. Included in this current squad are former Genk goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt, now of RB Leipzig. Vandevoordt, also 24, has kept two clean sheets in four games for the Bundesliga side. Last year he emerged as the sides new starting goalkeeper and so far this year he has cemented that position. Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders is also part of the new goalkeeping group after a strong season with Strasbourg on loan. So far this season, he has been limited to two appearances for Chelsea in the EFL Cup. With Emi Martinez also having joined the Premier League side, chances for Penders will be limited this season, so perhaps a January loan elsewhere would be beneficial. The final goalkeeper vying to put pressure on Lammens is the oldest of the group, 26-year-old Jari De Busser. The former Lommel goalkeeper left Go Ahead Eagles after two strong seasons to join AZ Alkmaar, where he has played nine games so far. Of all the goalkeepers, it is De Busser whose domestic side have had the best start to the season, with AZ sitting top of the Eredivisie going into the international break. De Busser has kept three clean sheets so far this season. Yet, the next generation of talented goalkeepers goes beyond this four. Belgium also has the likes of Liverpool’s newly acquired goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans, who will remain at Genk for the rest of the season. The 18-year-old looks to be a real talent for the future. Another goalkeeper who we have yet to really see is Club Brugge’s 19-year-old Argus Vanden Driessche. Ivan Leko has made the teenager his second choice goalkeeper over Nordin Jackers and many within the Club Brugge set up are excited about the potential of this young goalkeeper. Having lost Lammens to Antwerp so easily, the side are hoping to avoid a similar scenario with Vanden Driessche. Expect to see more from this teenager in the next few years. Its safe to say that Belgium’s goalkeeping situation will be the envy of many a national team. With one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Courtois set to eventually move on, there is no lack of talent ready to replace him when he does. The next few weeks could give an indicator as to where van Bommel see’s the future of Belgian goalkeeping, while allowing Lammens to be the first to really stake a claim to the position. GBeNeFN  |  Ben Jackson