Senne Lammens isn't just Man Utd's signing of the season - he's one of the best value-for-money deals in recent Premier League history

When he signed for United from Royal Antwerp for an initial fee of £18.2m, which is looking like more and more of a bargain with every game he plays, Lammens explained how important it is for him to remain calm. To help him stay serene, he keeps a journal, something he has in common with Winter Olympics star Eileen Gu.

"Before and after the game, I just write key words down and my thoughts a little bit," he told club media. "Because, sometimes, if you don't do that, it can be a lot going through your mind. It helps me with staying calm and staying in the moment a little bit, and not overreacting in situations.

"[I write] key words, trigger points. Maybe you are playing a team who puts a lot of pressure on and then you know you don't have to think a lot during the games, mentally you are already ready, already prepared for the game and what it's going to be like. So, when the game comes, you are not going to be so surprised by it. I think that is important."

His notes for the ultra-physical encounter at Everton would make for intriguing reading. Lammens was at least able to share his thoughts in his post-match interview with Sky Sports and reflect on the sheer volume of crosses that were thrown his way. 

He said: "We knew the corners and set pieces would be difficult. It's a strength of mine but today it was a bit over the top! I had to be behind the line in order to come out. It was too much, but it can be difficult for the referee to see it. Everton are a physical team, their defenders are really big.

"Sometimes you can't be thinking too much about players around you, because then you aren't thinking about the ball. My defenders can create space for me, so I have the opportunity to come and punch the ball away. But it is getting more and more difficult."

Despite his complaints, Lammens looked completely unflappable. And Carrick was thoroughly impressed with how he coped with the situation. 

"For me, he’s a goalkeeper to be reliable, be trustworthy," the coach said. "Instead of creating a chaos, you want him to take the chaos away and calm things down. I think Senne is that.

"He’s quite quiet at times and unassuming, but he’s got a real steel in this. To step in, it’s a big, big role for some, and others are talking there about coping and just being comfortable in your environment. Sometimes it takes time, sometimes not, but how he’s gone about it at the moment with that calmness, that composure, I think it does help those in front of him an awful lot."

Lammens has benefitted from playing with a familiar back four since Carrick succeeded Ruben Amorim and dispensed with his back-three. The Portuguese's fondness for replacing one centre-back with another did not help United's cohesion either. 

But despite losing Lisandro Martinez to injury, Lammens looked at ease with his defence and kept a third clean sheet in six games under Carrick. In Amorim's 20 games in charge this season in all competitions, United kept just two clean sheets.

Having an extra defender on hand and with all of them playing in their natural positions is clearly helping United be more solid now but Lammens is the main reason why they have looked so much more comfortable at the back. Since he joined the club, he has prevented more goals than any other Premier League goalkeeper based on his expected goals on target (XGoT).  

Lammens was inevitably compared to Peter Schmeichel after his impressive start in the United goal. The Dane is the most iconic of all United 'keepers and yet the comparison falls short because their personalities are so different. Schmeichel was constantly berating his defenders and squaring up to opponents or wagging his gloved fingers at them. Lammens is the complete opposite. A more apt comparison is Edwin van der Sar, who was also the picture of calm and also hailed from the Low Countries.

Speaking the day before the game on the Overlap podcast, Van der Sar said: "It certainly looks like he knows the physicality of the Premier League – I see him coming for balls in the penalty spot and he claims them with confidence, makes saves when needed, not looking to make saves when not necessary."

And after the game he spoke to him from the Sky Sports studio, praising the 23-year-old for the way he dealt with Everton's "horrible" corners and congratulating him for his first year in the Premier League. Van der Sar also joined United for a relatively low fee, signing from Fulham for just £2m in 2005. He was 34 at the time but ended up remaining at United until he was 40, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League. 

The difference was he already had a wealth of experience with Ajax and Juventus and knew the Premier League, as well as being the Netherlands' No. 1 for so long. Lammens, however, had only played one full season at top-flight level and that was outside Europe's top five leagues. He had also never played a senior international for Belgium.

There was understandable apprehension when United signed him and Schmeichel admitted that he had never previously heard of Lammens and described him as a "hopeful" signing. He wanted the club to go after Emi Martinez and so did Amorim. 

But United, led by chief goalkeeping scout Tony Coton, trusted in Lammens due to his age profile - he is a decade younger than the Argentine - and he was considerably cheaper both in terms of his transfer fee and his salary. The move did feel out of step with the club's targetting of proven Premier League attackers such as Mbeumo and Cunha and at the very least it felt like a bet on the future. 

Schmeichel warned: "I know his stats are excellent across the top ten European leagues. But that was with Antwerp in Belgium, in a team that finished fifth. He saved four out of eight penalties, but recruitment based purely on stats is risky. Stats don’t show how you react after a mistake, or how you cope with the pressure of Manchester United. That pressure is unlike anywhere else in football."

Lammens has proved Schmeichel wrong on every count and he has shown that there is value in the market if you look hard enough. And if the Belgian keeps playing as he is, he will prove  to be one of the best value for money deals in recent Premier League history.