Soccer: Stam close to agreeing new deal
Jaap Stam could sign a new contract at Manchester United within the next few weeks.
Stam's agent Ton van Dalen held talks with United two weeks ago about an extension to the defender's current deal and new terms.
The Dutch international's present agreement runs until 2005.
And van Dalen and the club are negotiating over the length of the extension and how much more he will be paid.
Van Dalen said: "We are talking about these two things but nothing has been concluded yet. It could happen in the next few weeks.
"We're waiting for Manchester United to discuss a couple of things and come back to us.
"We're optimistic everything will be sorted out and Jaap loves playing for Manchester United."
Stam is set to receive a 100% pay rise as part of United's on-going policy of renegotiating the contracts of their top players, even though the agreements all have more than 18 months left to run.
Andy Cole was the first beneficiary of this process and his wages have been doubled after he agreed a new four-year deal at the weekend.
As well as Stam and Cole, United also plan to offer new blockbusting deals to Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Gary Neville.
