Edwin van der Sar set to retire, Ferguson - and David de Gea could join Manchester United

28 November 2010 16:14
Sir Alex Ferguson expects Edwin van der Sar to retire at the end of the season - and the Manchester United boss has confirmed that Anders Lindegaard is unlikely to be the only goalkeeper joining the club.[LNB]Denmark No 1 Lindegaard clinched his £3.5million move from Aalesunds to Old Trafford and Saturday, but Sportsmail has already revealed that the Barclays Premier League giants were in the market for two shot stoppers.[LNB] The end is near: Van der Sar is thought to be in his last season at United [LNB]'I have come to accept this will be Edwin's last season,' Ferguson told The People. 'It's sad but the difficulty for a goalkeeper when he gets to 40 is something which happened with Peter Shilton.[LNB]'All of a sudden, because of age, Shilton's form just collapsed and I don't think Edwin would want that. He is such a proud man and it's going to be a big loss.[LNB]New arrival: Denmark's Lindegaard [LNB]'We had a chat last season about how he saw his future and he explained to me his plans, and nothing has changed from then.[LNB]'It's difficult because he has his wife's health to consider after her illness.[LNB]'She is fine now and seems to be really good but she still has treatments to get in Holland, with physiotherapy and things like that. So for him to be here with us would be difficult.'[LNB]United are tracking Rangers' Allan McGregor - who is also wanted by Aston Villa - as well as Bayer Leverkusen's Rene Adler and Manuel Neuer of Schalke.[LNB]An audacious move for Liverpool's Pepe Reina is not out of the question, but  perhaps the most exciting move would be for Spain Under 21 star David de Gea from Atletico Madrid. [LNB]And Ferguson admitted: 'We haven't finalised our thoughts on the goalkeeping situation. Edwin has massive experience and you can't buy that, so it's a difficult one because he has been a great goalkeeper and will be hard to replace.'[LNB]Atletico would demand more than £15million for De Gea - who has also been linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona - but the club have the impressive Sergio Asenjo in place to take over when the bids become too tempting.[LNB] Spanish fly: De Gea has impressed in goal for Atletico Madrid[LNB]The 20-year-old only made his breakthrough at Atletico a year ago, but he has impressed to such an extent that he is seen as Spain's natural long-term successor to Real Madrid's outstanding Iker Casillas.[LNB]United face competition from Villa for 28-year-old Rangers keeper McGregor. Gerard Houllier, boss of the West Midlands club, said: 'We went to see him (McGregor) play.[LNB]'I'm very happy with Brad (Friedel) but I'm conscious he is 39 and I'd be silly not to look to the long term.[LNB]'Obviously, he didn't have a good game versus Blackburn but, since the start of the season, he's been spot on.[LNB]'He's got experience and I trust him. I think he's a good goalkeeper, been a good buy. Long term, we need to prepare for the future. I need to see the reserve goalkeeper (Brad Guzan) as well.'[LNB] Manchester United 7 Blackburn 1: Five-star Dimitar Berbatov just can't stop finding the netI can't believe five-goal haul, admits United hot-shot BerbatovDanish keeper Lindegaard completes his move to Manchester UnitedMANCHESTER UNITED FC

Source: Daily_Mail