Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens has an unusual superstition which helps his preparation for games.
Lammens joined United on the final day of the summer transfer window, with the Red Devils paying Royal Antwerp a fee of £18.1 million to secure his services.
United desperately needed a new first-choice goalkeeper after frequent mistakes from both Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir and Lammens immediately looked the part, keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Sunderland on his debut in October.
Lammens has quietly gone about his work in a calm manner in between the sticks and kept his sixth clean sheet in 21 Premier League games on Monday when United beat Everton 1-0 away from home.
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The 23-year-old has proved to be an excellent shotstopper and was assured as ever dealing with the onslaught of Everton corners.
Though he's largely laid-back and unassuming, Lammens is actually incredibly meticulous in his preparation and according to a detailed report from the Daily Mail, bans anyone from mentioning clean sheets before games.
"According to him, that brings bad luck," his older brother Tom told the newspaper.
"I don't send anything to Senne before the match about clean sheets."
Brian Vandenbussche, his former goalkeeping coach at Antwerp, added further insight into Lammens' superstitions and revealed that he is prone to a pre-match fist bump or two "I didn’t like it either. You jinx it. I know it’s superstition, but don’t do it.
"Senne has things he does in a specific order before his warm-up. He always wanted me to stand ready before he went out. He did a fist bump with the other two goalkeepers and with me, that was important to him.
"Also before the game, he went back to the bench because he needed me to give the drink bottles to him. He did it for me to give him the last couple of words of advice."
Rik De Mil, who was assistant manager at Club Brugge when Lammens was there, was also consulted for the piece. He explained that Lammens is particular about the placement of his water bottle beside his goal and is obsessed with the opposition and their approach.
"He had a thing with his water bottle being on the same side of the goal," De Mil added.
"He's superstitious. He prepares always the same way. He also really wants to know everything about the opponent; the strikers, the corners, free-kicks, penalties, how many times an opponent shoots with his left or right foot."
Man United legend has given Lammens his approval
Lammens has made a huge impression on United fans and has also drew place from a former Red Devils goalkeeper in Edwin van der Sar, who won four Premier League titles with the club.
In a conversation with Gary Neville for The Overlap, the Dutchman said Lammens is "responding well to the physical demands of the Premier League", showing confidence and admires that "makes saves when necessary, without trying to make unnecessary saves".
Van der Sar also claimed that Lammens looks to "have everything it takes to stay here for a long time".
Topics: Manchester United
Josh Lawless