Manchester United legend admits he came close to Liverpool move

Manchester United’s Champions League winning goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has revealed just how close he came to signing for Liverpool.

The Dutch keeper spent six triumphant years between the sticks for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, having arrived from Fulham in 2005, collecting a Champions League winners medal after their penalty shootout success against Chelsea in 2008.

However, Van der Sar has revealed his career could have taken a very different path with the then Ajax goalkeeper admitting he held talks with Gerard Houllier over a possible switch to Anfield.

“When I left Ajax in 1999, I travelled to Liverpool and spoke to Houllier,” Van der Sar told November’s issue of FourFourTwo.

“I was shown around Anfield and also met with the chairman and a couple of the players.

“I thought about it, but when Juventus came to the table I came to the conclusion that it would be a bigger challenge to play in Italy.”

And United are certainly glad that he did, given it’s a pretty unusual site for players to turn out for both north-west rivals.

Van der Sar now works as Ajax’s CEO, with the goalkeeper’s club beaten by his former employers United in the 2017 Europa League final in Stockholm.