Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has revealed that he held talks about a possible return to Old Trafford
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has revealed that he has previously held talks with the club over returning in an executive role.
The Dutchman spent six years at Old Trafford after joining from Fulham in 2005. He made 266 appearances for United, keeping 135 clean sheets, before retiring in 2011 at the age of 40.
Shortly after hanging up his gloves, he joined former club Ajax as a director. He became Chief Executive Officer in 2016. He resigned from his role in 2023 after the club missed out on a Champions League spot with a third-place finish in the Eredivisie.
The now 55-year-old has revealed that he may have had the chance to join United in a similar role, having held two rounds of talks with the club.
Speaking on The Overlap, he revealed: “Yes, I spoke to Ed Woodward twice about taking up a role at Manchester United, but at that point, I didn’t think my job was finished at Ajax with the path we were going on – we were not there yet.
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“But I had two good conversations with him on two separate occasions about a role, probably alongside him.”
The goalkeeper position has been a big talking point at Old Trafford for the last few seasons. This summer saw Andre Onana join Turkish side Trabzonspor on loan, with Senne Lammens coming in as his replacement.
The Belgian has earned praise for his performances, and Van der Sar has backed him to be a long-term fixture at the club “He’s doing well. Of course, it’s only been seven or eight months,” he said.
“But it certainly looks like he knows the physicality of the Premier League – I see him coming for balls in the penalty spot and he claims them with confidence, makes saves when needed, not looking to make saves when not necessary.
“I’m not here day-to-day and I don’t see all of the games, but he looks like he has a good package with him to be here [Manchester United] for a long time.”
Van der Sar suffered a health scare just weeks after leaving Ajax, with a bleed around the brain. He is now recovered and is enjoying more time away from work.
“What was nice for me was that I wanted to have a rest, take a year out of football, go to some other clubs and learn some new things,” he said.
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“Now it’s almost three years ago, so I’ve had time to recover with no stress, no phone in my hand – just doing the stuff that I’ve wanted to do.
“Wake up when you want, walk the dog, go swim in the sea, go on holiday. I went to New Zealand for two months with Annemarie [his wife] – nice things that I never had the chance to do before.
“I started playing at 18 or 19, finished at 40, and at 41 I became one of the directors at Ajax until 53, so I thought it was the right time to take a step back. That’s taken a little bit longer than I originally thought, to be fair, but we are enjoying ourselves very much.”
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