Leeds United officially confirmed the signing of German central midfielder Anton Stach from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim as their latest arrival on Tuesday.
The 6 foot 4 enforcer becomes the club’s sixth signing of the summer transfer window after Sean Longstaff, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Jaka Bijol, Lukas Nmecha, and Sebastiaan Bornauw.
Stach, 26, made 3.7 tackles and interceptions per game across 30 outings in the Bundesliga last season, but has joined to compete in a bloated midfield set-up, with Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev, Ao Tanaka, and Longstaff also at the club.
This means that he has not arrived as an essential signing, albeit he may well go on to be a huge success, and that is why the club’s interest in a new goalkeeper could be an even better signing.
Leeds in the race to sign new goalkeeper
It is no secret that Leeds need to improve their options between the sticks, after Illan Meslier was dropped towards the end of last season after he conceded 2.73 more goals than expected, based on xG, and made three errors that directly led to goals.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, as relayed by TEAMtalk, Leeds United are eyeing up a potential swoop to sign goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp this summer.
The report claims that the Championship champions have emerged as serious contenders to sign the 23-year-old shot-stopper to bolster Daniel Farke’s squad for next season.
However, it adds that Manchester United are also interested in the Belgian star, who is valued at a fee of up to £17m by his club, which means that there could be significant competition for his signature.
Why Senne Lammens would be a big signing for Leeds
Lammens would be an even better signing than Stach for Leeds because he would arrive as a huge upgrade in a position that the club are currently desperately lacking in quality.
The latest Whites signing is part of a healthy group of quality midfield options, which means that he is not guaranteed to be a regular starter, but the Belgian goalkeeper would come straight in as Farke’s best goalkeeper.
Lammens, who saved four of the eight penalties he faced in the Pro League last season, produced outstanding performances for Royal Antwerp in the 2024/25 campaign, and could be a phenomenal signing for the club.
|
24/25 season |
Lammens (Pro League) |
Meslier (Championship) |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
40 |
39 |
|
Save percentage |
77% |
71% |
|
Penalties saved |
4/8 |
1/4 |
|
Goals prevented |
+15.57 |
-2.73 |
|
Saves |
173 |
65 |
|
Error led to goal |
2 |
3 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, the Belgian goalkeeper would come in as an unbelievable upgrade on Meslier if he can carry his form over to English football, as he prevented a ridiculous 15.57 goals based on the xG against him.
These statistics suggest that Lammens, whose shot-stopping numbers were hailed as “remarkable” by Statman Dave, would be a huge positive between the sticks for Leeds, as a goalkeeper who can make game-changing saves to keep his team in matches.
Whereas, Meslier has let Leeds down too many times with his inconsistent shot-stopping, which has led to him conceding more than the average goalkeeper would be expected to based on the quality of shots against him.
Therefore, Lammens would be a huge upgrade on what the Whites currently have in goal, and he would arrive as a crucial signing for Farke ahead of their attempt to avoid an instant relegation from the Premier League.
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That is why the Royal Antwerp stopper would be an even better signing than Stach for the Whites this summer, because he would solve a problem position for the club, whilst the midfielder is competing in an area of the pitch that Farke has plenty of quality in.
