Edwin won't take United deal for granted
Edwin van der Sar is refusing to take a new Manchester United contract for granted.
At the start of his club’s recent South African tour, Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed he intended to offer the giant Dutchman an extra year when his present deal expires.
The move forms part of Ferguson’s goalkeeping grand plan, which still includes signing Tomasz Kuszczak from West Brom despite having a third bid for the Polish international rejected yesterday.
Ferguson hopes that by the summer of 2008, either Kuszczak, Tim Howard – who will spend this season on loan at Everton – or Ben Foster, who could still return to Watford for a second year, will have established themselves as a plausible candidate to replace Van der Sar as United’s first choice.
However, Van der Sar feels he will play a part in United’s short-term future only if he maintains the kind of form he produced in his first season at Old Trafford last term.
“I currently have a contract until 2007 – and while I saw some stories about an extension, I have not spoken to anyone about it,” said the 35-year-old.
“All I can do is perform the same way I did last season. If I do that I will be happy, and my manager will be happy as well.”
Van der Sar is back in Amsterdam this weekend, the city where he spent seven largely successful years operating behind Ajax’s defence, for the annual four-team tournament.
After exiting the World Cup at the first knockout phase following the stormy encounter with Portugal in which a record four players were sent off and 16 booked, the 1995 Champions League win with Ajax remains the highlight of Van der Sar’s career.
It was widely assumed this summer’s tournament in Germany would mark the end of the road for him internationally.
Yet, smashing the all-time Dutch appearance record, the veteran goalkeeper has committed himself to Marco van Basten’s side until Euro 2008 in an effort to put the misery of what happened in Germany firmly behind him.
“The first week after the World Cup was hard, because I was carrying over a lot of feelings from what happened in Germany, and the disappointment is always a little bit more acute when you are captain,” he said.
“But then I went on holiday, spoke to a few people and started training again.
“It doesn’t take long to get the feeling back that you want to carry on doing the thing you love most of all, which is playing football. That is why I have decided to carry on.”
