Ben Foster up for sale as Van der Sar returns

zocoss SG

United keeper Ben Foster

Out of favour: United keeper Ben Foster

Manchester United have put England international goalkeeper Ben Foster up for sale as first choice Edwin van der Sar prepares to return to action after taking time off to nurse his wife.

Premier League clubs looking for a new keeper have been told it will take £4million to land World Cup hopeful Foster, whose relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson soured after a dressing-room row following the home game against Sunderland in October.

Foster's impending departure signals the start of a major shake-up at Old Trafford, prompted by last weekend's FA Cup flop against Leeds United.

With Ferguson no longer able to shop at the top end of the market, he has targeted West Ham's £6m midfielder Valon Behrami to add creativity and is looking at Brazilian defender Joao Miranda of Sao Paulo as a long-term replacement for Nemanja Vidic.

Anderson and Nani will also be allowed to go at the right price and a summer move for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema cannot be ruled out if Ferguson can find a buyer for Dimitar Berbatov.

The decision to sell 26-year-old Foster marks a huge decline in fortunes for someone hailed as the future of English goalkeeping by Ferguson earlier this season.

But a series of mistakes culminating in a couple of blunders in the 2-2 draw against Sunderland have left the United manager convinced Foster has to move clubs to restore his confidence. He has only played for United in one game since - a meaningless Champions League tie against Besiktas.

Foster's departure is likely to be hastened by Van der Sar's return to the club's training ground in Carrington next week. His wife, Annemarie, was released from Leiden University Hospital on Friday night, two weeks after she suffered a stroke.

Van der Sar, who last played for United against Everton on November 21, said: 'Yes, I'm more or less ready to step it up and resume training with Manchester United. In the past week I have trained with my old club, Ajax.'

Meanwhile, Ferguson has turned his attentions to 24-year-old Swiss international Behrami and West Ham's financial situation means they are unlikely to be able to resist a bid.

Ferguson will be allowed to sign players for United this year but will have a tight budget with the club £700m in debt under the ownership of the Glazer family.

Poignant SG

i dont think should sell him.

same case for scott carson when he was with liverpool.

both have potential, should just do a loan deal, who knows he might come back good next time.

Pitot SG

sell him.

he has had enough chances. If a move makes him a better player, than good for him. Perhaps that is just what he needs.

Rooney9 SG

a club like united proves too big for him to fill his shoes. remember howard when he was at united, mistakes after mistakes committed by him led to his sale to everton. he is doing quite well at everton now dun he. this just proves one thing, he cannot handle the pressure and stress of a big club and he will do well in a mid sized club like everton or a smaller club like watford.

sand king SG

Yeah, ship him back to Watford... or try to make some buck with him.

Rooney9 SG

Casillas already won a CL with RM in 2000 at the age of 19. this proves that age is not a factor. either you are good or not, not how old you are. at 26, foster is still unable to kick properly just prove that he is at best, an above average england goalie, nothing more. he will never be a world class goalie. I dunno why the hell he was so highly rated by the press and fergie to begin with when united bought him and then loaned him out to watford. same when howard first came to united and I was thinking, if he is so good, how come the likes of Milan, RM and the other big clubs didnt come for him. his price tag was a mere 3m only.

Rooney9 SG

although kuscask isnt world class, but he made quite a number of important saves during the birmingham match. most important of all, he didnt made any silly errors on his kicking or handling. I dun mind him staying for a long time if he is contented being no 2. if he is like foster and made silly errors, then he can pack up and go.

CKeer SG

Even Paul Robinson, a keeper also on the decline can score against Foster seems to suggest that Foster is not even good in the first place.

He was hailed as the next big thing probably because he was fist of all, signed by United from Stoke at a young age. And of course he's an Englishmen, the press love homegrown players and thus a big hoo-ha over this up-and-coming goalie.

Kuzczcak is becoming more and more like Raimond Van Der Gouw (remember him?). He's always a second fiddle to Peter Schmeichel but he never complains, puts in effort and is a decent enough goalkeeper.

If only Foster can keep his mouth shut, work his socks off, he could be the number 1 keeper but he did not, mouth off for being left out of squad after a series of blunders that he did not feel apologetic about.