Ajax CEO and former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar says he is "extremely happy" in the Eredivisie with Erik ten Hag's side, ruling out a move to Old Trafford — for now.
Ed Woodward's role as executive vice chairman will conclude at the turn of the calendar year and with no formal announcement on his successor yet, the ex-United keeper has been linked with the position.
Van der Sar has been in his role in Amsterdam for five years and insisted on his happiness in his native Holland after helping rebuild Ajax, in light of the sale of prized academy graduates Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek.
He also works alongside another United -linked man in head coach Ten Hag who has been touted as a future Old Trafford managerial candidate.
Ajax coasted through their Champions League group under Ten Hag, after surprising the odds with a comprehensive win over Borussia Dortmund.
Their bid to retain their title has been difficult as they currently sit marginally behind league leaders PSV Eindhoven.
But Van der Sar has insisted he is "very happy" in the Netherlands.
"Every job you do, you want to do it as well as possible. I think we had success on the pitch as a player, winning trophies, getting respect, for us it's important to do the same trick as a director in the position what we do now," he told The Athletic's Business of Sport podcast.
"To be linked or talked about is something that we enjoy, of course, that means we're doing but the feeling is that we're not ready here yet in Amsterdam.
"There's still room to improve, we had a contract talk with him last year [Erik ten Hag] and he saw a real improvement in the team and a possibility to perform at a higher level, that's the way he's doing that, the players developing, it's fantastic.
"Your name once in a while pops up, of course I've got a connection with Man United but I'm extremely happy in Amsterdam."
But Van der Sar never quite shut the door on the links with United in the interview, adding: "There's always a next step, you want to have new experience, 'lets see if he can do the trick another time' probably in the end as a player you sort of feel the urge to take the next step, new challenge, you're on a dead track.
"For example, at Ajax I wanted a new challenge [and] went Juventus, at Juventus I was a dead track, ended up at Fulham — maybe stayed one or two years too long — in the end, I got the deal or the transfer that could finish my career at a high then playing six years.
"Probably at the end you want to go for the next challenge, but at the moment we're extremely fine here in Amsterdam."
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