Premier League 
/ Maxliu / 25 May 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Woo-hoo, I'm moving to the north of England
"An all-time goalkeeping nadir for United? The loan signing of Andy Goram would take some beating."
Sir Alex Ferguson moves speedily to snap up replacement for Edwin van der Sar. But will the young Spaniard fill the Dutchman's gloves?
Manchester United have smashed the British transfer fee for a goalkeeper by agreeing to sign David de Gea from Atletico Madrid for around £17 million.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been tracking the 20-year-old stopper, who is uncapped for Spain, as Edwin van der Sar prepares to hang up his gloves after this Saturday's Champions League Final. United are a cracking price at [4.1] to win the match with opponents Barcelona [2.06].
The United boss believes he has the right man and has signalled his confidence in de Gea by moving quickly. Following the retirement of Peter Schmeichel in 1999, United struggled to find a replacement until van der Sar arrived at Old Trafford in 2005.
During those six years, Mark Bosnich, Raymond van der Gouw, Massimo Taibi and Roy Carroll all had spells in the first team. Ferguson thought he'd found his man in 2000 with the signing of World Cup winner Fabien Barthez. However, after increasingly erratic and eccentric displays, on and off the pitch, the Frenchman was dropped and shipped out in 2004. An all-time goalkeeping nadir for United? The loan signing of Andy Goram in 2001 would take some beating.
Van der Sar's arrival provided stability, the kind of automatic first name on the teamsheet managers long for. It's hard to think of a mistake he made - before his blunder against West Brom earlier this season scuppered United's 100 percent Premier League home record - so de Gea is certainly stepping into a massive pair of gloves.
At 20, we might have expected him to serve an apprenticeship on the sidelines before stepping up in a season or two. However, that approach didn't work for Ben Foster and the size of the transfer fee leaves us in no doubt: Ferguson will throw his new goalkeeper in at the deep end from the start of next season.
They might be most punters tips to return to the top flight, but Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch thinks that Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham will all find it tough to bounce straight back to the big time....
The season is over but the clubs are already well into their plans for 2011-12 and the rumours have started already - Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester City anyone?...
It's double Dutch at the top of the market as Chelsea begin the search for a new manager...
