Sir Alex Ferguson has acted quickly to replace the outgoing Edwin van der Sar by smashing the British transfer record for a goalkeeper and agreeing the signing this summer of David de Gea from Atlético Madrid for a fee believed to be in the region of £17m.


The size of the fee indicates the importance Ferguson has attached to finding the right successor to Van der Sar at Old Trafford. The figure dwarfs the £9m Sunderland paid Hearts for Craig Gordon in 2007 and makes the 20-year-old De Gea, who is yet to win a cap for Spain, the second most expensive goalkeeper in football history behind Gianluigi Buffon, who swapped Parma for Juventus in a deal worth around £32m in 2001.

After six seasons at United Van der Sar is to retire after Saturday's Champions League final against Barcelona and Ferguson will hope the signing of De Gea will prevent filling the No1 shirt turning into the problem it became following the departure of Peter Schmeichel after United won the competition in 1999.

"We've been working on it for quite a while," said Ferguson of the signing. "We identified him quite a while back as one we should go for. He's young, very quick, good composure, presence and an outstanding replacement for Van der Sar,

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