Fergie: I should have signed Edwin ten years ago
Record breaking goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar should have been signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999 as a replacement for legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel - who played his last game for the club against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
Schmeichel left for Sporting Lisbon whilst Manchester United signed Mark Bosnich on a free transfer from Aston Villa. Van Der Sar signed for Juventus and then Fulham before eventually making his way to Old Trafford after United tried no fewer than five goalkeepers to replace the great Dane.
Fabien Barthez had a good first season, however proved to be too erratic and was prone to a number of gaffs whereas Howard and Carroll simply weren't up to the job.
Sir Alex was quoted as saying "I tried to replace Schmeichel, but that was very difficult. We went for Fabien Barthez and he did well for a while, but he then had his own situations, so we went for Edwin. We really should have gone for him when Schmeichel left, but Martin Edwards had an agreement with Mark Bosnich at the time that took the wind out of our sails. So we couldn't get Edwin, but I'd have loved to have got him then."
He went onto add "He is different entirely to Schmeichel and you can't compare them, but there was a certain criteria to be a goalkeeper here which involved good experience, personality and also a good track record. Edwin has all of those qualities. He didn't cost us a lot of money, about £2 million, so he's right up there with my best signings."
Fergie: I should have signed Edwin ten years ago - Forum Discussion