How Edwin van der Sar made the signing of Antony possible

It was a tough battle between Ajax and Manchester United throughout the summer transfer window. First, Erik ten Hag was appointed as the English giants’ new manager back in April when the season hadn’t finished and Ajax were still fighting for the Eredivise title and the cup title in the Netherlands’ domestic competitions.

Then, the Dutch manager signed Lisandro Martinez by the end of July after the centre-back asked the club to be sold. Lastly, ten Hag prioritized the signing of Antony, but the Amsterdam club refused to sell him on several occasions. The Brazilian player had to go on strike to make the club sell him to the Red Devils in the final days of the window.

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As the Eredivisie champions continued to refuse to sell Antony, Ajax’s CEO and former Manchester United goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar jumped in the negotiations to end everything once and for all since he has a history with both clubs. Once he did that, the negotiations finally went through helping his former club.

Yesterday, the ex-footballer said on Ajax's YouTube channel that he had to make that decision as a businessman: “Eventually there are offers coming that make us reach a turning point. At the end of the day, football is also a business. I understand the technical area wants to keep everyone together, but we don’t live in the perfect world”.

For old times’ sake

Edwin van der Sar is considered by many fans as one of the greatest Manchester United goalkeepers of all time. The Dutchman played over 260 games as a Red Devil where he won four Premier League titles, one Champions League, and several more titles. He is also the second goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the club’s history in the Premier League with 132, only surpassed recently by De Gea.