Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that  goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar is expected to retire from football at the end of this season.

Van Der Sar arrived at Old Trafford in 2005 and has gone on to play a very important part of United's success.

Ahead of the Sunderland game this Sunday, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We’re planning for it to be possibly Edwin’s last season".

He was then asked if he may stay and take on a coaching role at the club, the boss said: "He’ll be someone of interest in terms of his knowledge and experience, but we haven’t discussed that yet."

Man United will sign 26-year old Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard as soon as the January transfer window opens.

Talking about the new signing, Ferguson said:

"We can't register him until after the Stoke game because of the Bank Holiday"

"But he is training with us now and that is important.

"It will bring him to a better level of fitness because he has not played for a few weeks. We will see how his progress goes."

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard on a three and a half year deal.

The 26-year old will join United from Aalesunds FK, he will train with the squad during December but is not eligible to play any games until the January transfer window opens. The fee is undisclosed but believed to be in the region of three millions pounds.

The International goalkeeper has spoken about the move and unsurprisingly is very happy: “Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me,”

"The club is such an institution in Denmark, it’s an honour to come here.

"I’m looking forward to playing and training alongside some of the great players in football today.

"I can’t wait to be part of this team and to make my contribution to keeping the team at the top of the game.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has also spoken about the new signing, saying:

“Anders is one of the brightest young keepers in the game. The challenge at Manchester United is always to look to the future and in Anders, we have signed a goalkeeper of great presence and even more promise.

"Having the time to train with him before he is registered will be an important period for him – almost like a pre season to get him integrated with the other players.”