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United swoop for Fulham goalkeeper (go back to the homepage) Manchester United have moved to solve their goalkeeping problems with the signing of Dutch international Edwin van der Sar from Fulham. The former Juventus and Ajax keeper has agreed a two-year contract and will undergo a medical after returning from international duty. He played in Holland's 2-0 World Cup qualifying Group One victory against Romania in Rotterdam on Saturday night. A fee of between 2 million and 3 million pounds (3.6-5.4 million dollars) has been agreed. Van der Sar had been linked with a move to United in January but instead agreed a contract extension with Fulham until summer 2006. United were expected to make a move for a goalkeeper after releasing number one Roy Carroll last week along with third choice goalkeeper Ricardo. That left American stopper Tim Howard as the only senior goalkeeper on United's books. Van der Sar is United's first new signing since the club's takeover by Malcolm Glazer and he is likely to join the squad for next month's tour of the Far East. He will become the latest in a long line of keepers trying to fill the huge void left when Peter Schmeichel quit the club after the famous treble-winning season of 1999. Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Raimond van der Gouw, Fabien Barthez, Carroll and Ricardo have been brought in by manager Alex Ferguson but none has managed to fill the great Dane's gloves. Although Howard signed a new contract until 2009 last month, he has failed to live up to his early promise, making a number of high-profile mistakes last season before losing his place to Carroll. Van der Sar joined Fulham from Juventus for 5 million pounds (9 million dollars) four years ago. United were involved in an acrimonious transfer deal with the Cottagers for Louis Saha last year but this deal appears to have been reached cordially. |