MANCHESTER UNITED:ALEX FERGUSON has claimed the injury-prone Ben Foster will succeed Edwin van der Sar as first-choice goalkeeper at Manchester United and is close to making the Bordeaux winger Gabriel Obertan his third summer signing in a €3.5 million deal.
Foster has made only 10 senior appearances for United since arriving from Stoke City in July 2005, having spent two seasons on loan at Watford and also enduring several fitness problems, but yesterday signed a new four-year contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until 2013.
The deal represents relief for a goalkeeper who is 26 and missed last season’s Champions League final with a ruptured ligament in his right thumb, and it gives him a chance to press his credentials at United ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
The twice-capped England international also missed last month’s World Cup qualifiers due to surgery on his thumb and he remains keen to secure a place in Fabio Capello’s squad for South Africa.
Van der Sar is contracted for one more season at Old Trafford, and the United manager claimed there is no pressure to find a proven replacement for the veteran Dutchman next year.
“We are delighted Ben has signed a four-year deal,” said Ferguson. “Ben is seen as one of the best young ’keepers in England and we genuinely see him as a successor to Edwin.”
Ferguson, meanwhile, has agreed a deal with Bordeaux for the 20-year-old Obertan.
The France under-21 international, who can operate in midfield or across the forward line, underwent a medical yesterday and will become United’s third arrival this summer following the €18.5 million capture of Antonio Valencia from Wigan and the shock free transfer of Michael Owen.
GuardianService
