Edwin van der Sar's 'two good conversations' with Man Utd over chance of return

Ex-Manchester United goalkeeper and former Ajax director Edwin van der Sar has shared that he held talks over a possible return to the club in an executive role

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has disclosed that he has previously discussed a potential return to the club in an executive capacity. The Dutchman spent six seasons at Old Trafford following his switch from Fulham in 2005.

He featured 266 times for United, recording 135 clean sheets, before calling time on his playing career in 2011 aged 40. Soon after retiring, he joined his former club Ajax as a director.

He was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2016. He stepped down from his post in 2023 after the club failed to secure a Champions League place with a third-place finish in the Eredivisie.

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The now 55-year-old has shared that he might have had the opportunity to join United in a comparable position, having held two rounds of discussions with the club. But he opted to remain with Ajax at the time.

Speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by SkyBet he said: "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.

"But I had two good conversations with him on two separate occasions about a role, probably alongside him."

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The goalkeeper situation has been a major talking point at Old Trafford for the past few seasons. This summer, Andre Onana joined Turkish outfit Trabzonspor on loan, with Senne Lammens arriving as his replacement. The Belgian has received acclaim for his displays, and Van der Sar has endorsed him as a long-term presence at the club. "He's doing well," he said.

"Of course, it's only been seven or eight months.

"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 experienced a health scare just weeks after departing Ajax, suffering a bleed around the brain. He has since made a full recovery and is relishing additional time away from professional commitments.

"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.

"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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