Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar has confirmed that he will be retiring at the end of the season. The 40-year old will spend more time with his family; his wife Annemarie suffered a stroke back in 2009.

The Dutchman joined Man United on the 1st June 2005 from Fulham and to date, he has played 245 times for United. The biggest moment in his career at Old Trafford was when he saved the final penalty of the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow, which won the cup for United.

Speaking to MUTV, Van Der Sar said: “It’s been coming for a while,”
“After playing for so many years, you reach a point where you have to make a decision.

“There are a couple of things to consider – whether you still have an appetite for it, your family. You have to look at yourself also. You have to ask if you can bring that top level of performance that you need at United. At the moment I am quite happy with my form and my achievements on the pitch. I just want to keep that on a high level.

“You can’t play Superman into your 40s. It’s a mutual decision that this season was the last. When I first came here I was just happy to sign a two-year contract. I wanted to win the league before I retired. I was lucky to achieve a little bit more than that.”

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to the keeper, speaking to Sky Sports News he said:
"Fantastic - a magnificent person, professional goalkeeper, an absolute marvellous career he's had"

"He's an example to anyone who wants to become a goalkeeper.

"Edwin sails through life without any changes in it, he never changes, he has a consistent nature. He's unflappable.

"He's calm, he doesn't look to search or press for himself, he's happy with what he's achieved in life and he's not searching for anything, he's such a good man."

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."

Man United’s number one goalkeeper has signed a new one-year contract, which will see him at United until June 2011.

There was speculation that the 39-year old may retire at the end of the season leaving Ben Foster, Tomasz Kuszczak or someone else to replace him.

"I still feel good and am enjoying my football," Van Der Sar told ManUtd.com. "This is a great club and I was shown a great deal of compassion and support during a difficult time in December and January for which I am extremely grateful. I am looking forward to winning more trophies with this great team."

“Edwin’s professionalism and dedication to his job and the way he looks after himself has given him the longevity in the game," Sir Alex Ferguson told ManUtd.com. "That longevity includes such great experience not just at United, but at Juventus, Ajax and on an international level. We are absolutely delighted he is continuing for another year."


This is a big boost for United, both Foster and Kuszczak haven’t always been the most reliable of keepers. Van Der Sar on the other hand is a very reliable keeper and that comes with age.

Foster said he was pleased with his form this term and hoped that it would help make an impression on England coach Fabio Capello, with the hope that he will make the squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"I've started the season reasonably well and played every game so far, and long may it continue."

UEFA have released the names of the footballers that are in contention for the UEFA club football awards. Obviously the Champion’s League winners have quite a few players named. The awards will be presented throughout the Champion’s League group stage draw which is on the 27th August.


UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Victor Valdes (Barcelona)
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)
UEFA Club Defender of the Year
Gerard Pique (Barcelona)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
UEFA Club Forward of the Year
Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, now Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, now Real Madrid)

Obviously I am hoping that Van Der Sar and Vidic win.
Would you be happy if Cristiano Ronaldo won the forward of the year?

We may have only just kicked off the start of the new Premier League season but Man United already have quite a few injury woes, mainly in defence.

Who Is Injured?

Officially, Man United have seven injured players but we could have eight.
Nemanja Vidic (calf strain)
Rio Ferdinand (thigh strain)
Edwin Van Der Sar (hand injury)
Gabriel Obertan (calf/shin injury)
Rafael da Silva (ankle/foot injury)
Owen Hargreaves (knee injury)
Gary Neville (groin strain)

During yesterday’s game against Birmingham Jonny Evans limped off with an injury, which now means he is a doubt for Wednesday’s game against Burnley.

The main problem is in central defence, our main two defenders are out (Ferdinand and Vidic) and it now looks like Evans is out injured. There are replacements, Wes Brown and John O’Shea can fill in but if one of them get injured, we have big problems.

I am just hoping that Evans isn’t too seriously injured and we can get either Ferdinand or Vidic back as soon as possible.

We are only days away from the start of the 2009/10 Premier League season and we are still been linked with players. Both Man United’s Chief Executive (David Gill) and manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) have said that there will be no more signings this summer but the press continue to link us to players.

Man United’s main goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar is injured and he will be out for around two months. United’s second goalkeeper Ben Foster had a bit of a nightmare in the Community Shield match against Chelsea and Tomasz Kuszczak is not highly rated by the press. That now means that we are once again being linked to some top goalkeepers.

Who are we being linked to?

I have seen some reports suggesting that we are going to sign Gianluigi Buffon from Juventus. Buffon has been at Juventus since 2001 and he is aged 31. I don’t think that he is a no go especially because of his age.

The other main name that has been put in the frame is a younger goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Neuer has played for FC Schalke for his entire professional playing career. He is only 23-years-old and he is in the right age range for Manchester United.

Will we buy a goalkeeper this summer?

Personally, I don’t think so. Sir Alex and Gill have both said that we won’t sign any more players. I know that Fergie said that earlier on in the summer and then we went on and signed Gabriel Obertan but I think that was different. If they are going to change their minds I don’t think it will be a goalkeeper that we will be signing, it is more likely to be a forward player.

I also believe that Sir Alex will show his faith in Foster, he did have a bad game but all players have bad games and it was a pre-season game. Foster hasn’t played many games and his match sharpness might not be there yet.

Kuszczak, in my opinion, gets a bit of a hard time. He isn’t the best goalkeeper in the world but we are not Real Madrid or Manchester City. We aren’t going to go out and buy the best of everything. Kuszczak is a good goalkeeper and if we need him then he will perform. I know that some Manchester United fans get nervous when he is in goal but I think that is a tad harsh.

Van Der Sar is going to be injured for two months and I believe that Foster and Kuszczak are perfectly capable of standing in for him. If not, we do have some youngsters (Ron-Robert Zieler and Ben Amos) who could be given a chance.

If we are going to buy a keeper it won’t be this summer, it will be next when Van Der Sar is expected to retire. Even then I think Fergie will keep Foster and Kuszczak.

Ahead of the Community Shield this Sunday Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Man United have a few injury woes.

You should know that Edwin Van Der Sar is injured and will be out for two months. Fergie has confirmed that whoever plays out of Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak, they will be Man United's number one until Van Der Sar returns.

Sir Alex has also confirmed that Nemanja Vidic will miss the first game of the season against Birmingham, a week on Sunday. He should be Ok for the second match against Burnley.

Wes Brown should be fit and ready for the start of the season and Gary Neville is struggling with a groin injury.

"Everyone is fit apart from Wes, Vidic and Neville," Sir Alex said during his press conference.
"Gary has done a bit of training, and he is coming along fine. And I expect Wes to be fit for the Birmingham match.

"Vidic is another week or two away and Edwin's injury is a bad one. He's out for 8-10 weeks, of course. So my first selection dilemma for Sunday is in goal."

Man United have suffered a massive blow ahead of the start of the Premier League season. Man United have confirmed that number one goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar has broken his finger.

Van Der Sar has undergone surgery and he will now be out of action for eight weeks.
Van der Sar suffered the injury saving a penalty from Danijel Pranjic in United's 7-6 shoot-out defeat to Bayern Munich in the pre-season Audi Cup tournament in Germany.


This will now give Ben Foster the chance he has been waiting for to shine. We also have Tomasz Kuszczak who I am sure will get some games.

Man United's current number one goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar is not ready to give up the shirt and he is prepared to fight for his place. Many believe that next season will be the final season playing football for Van Der Sar, he has already quit International football and at the age of 38 it may be his last.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Ben Foster will play more games next season but Van Der Sar is also determined to play as many games as he can.

"The manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] has gone public and explained that he's planning to give Ben [Foster] more games," Van der Sar has been quoted in The Mirror as saying.

"I think that's normal because you have to look to the future. But I still want to play as many games as I can next season.”

"As far as making a decision on my future, I'm going to see how the season goes,” he added.

"Several factors will determine my decision. Am I still enjoying it? Do the club still want me? Those kind of things."

I still believe that Van Der Sar will be Man United's main goalkeeper next season, he is still the best that we have. I don't believe that Foster is quite ready but he will be.

It looks like we now no who Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to replace Edwin Van Der Sar, when he retires at the end of next season. Yesterday, goalkeeper Ben Foster signed a new four year deal at Manchester United.

Over recent months there have been rumours that Real Madrid's Iker Casillas will be on his way to Old Trafford to replace Van Der Sar. Sir Alex Ferguson has said himself that he believes Foster will be England's next goalkeeper. After signing a new long-term deal Fergie now believes that Foster will also be Man United's next goalkeeper.

Both Ben Foster and Sir Alex Ferguson have spoken to ManUtd.com and this is what they have had to say:

Foster: "I’m really happy to commit my future to the club"
"The team spirit here is fantastic and working along side Edwin and Tomasz has been a great influence on my career.”

Ferguson: “We are delighted that Ben has signed a new four-year deal"
"Ben is seen as one of the best young goalkeepers in England and we genuinely see him as a successor to Edwin.”

Good news or bad news? I believe it is good news. Is Foster the right replacement for Van Der Sar?

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van Ser Sar is expected to announce that he will retire in 2010. The Sun claim that VDS has decided to retire at the end of next season.

Van Der Sar joined Man United in 2005 from Fulham for only £2 million. Since then he has made 191 appearances and has been a very important part of Man United's success. It will be sad news because he has been important but it isn't surprising. It also means that Ben Foster will get a chance to prove himself at Man United.

"Edwin has reviewed his options after each season and thinks this could be his last year," a Manchester United source is quoted as saying.
"He is determined to go out at the top and is raring to go next season."