Manchester United's hopes of persuading Edwin van der Sar to rejoin them as the club’s first technical director are fading.
Van der Sar, the former Netherlands international keeper who spent six successful years with United as a player helping them win the Premier League four times, the Champions League, a League Cup and the Club World Cup, is unwilling to quit his current role as chief executive at Ajax.
The 48-year-old, whose playing career also saw success with Ajax themselves, Juventus and Fulham and a record 130 international caps, is the mastermind behind a renaissance on and off the pitch that has the Dutch club 1-0 up on Tottenham in a Champions League semi-final which concludes in Amsterdam on Wednesday.
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On top of that, they are chasing a Treble of the Eredivisie title (Ajax are top with two games to play) and Dutch Cup (they face mid-table Willem II in Sunday's final), despite banking more than £200million from player sales in recent years.
The control he has at Ajax, working with director of football and former Arsenal star Marc Overmars, means a move into player recruitment required by United's brief on the planned role would actually represent a step down for him.
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Van der Sar also enjoys being involved in his current club’s commercial activities – a role taken by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward at Old Trafford.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants his current No.2, Alex Ferguson's long-time right-hand man and former United midfielder Mike Phelan, to be handed the job of overhauling United’s transfer policy.
The Red Devils face a huge summer as they try to close the near-30 point gap between them and the Premier League title fight, and also regain the Champions League spot a current position of sixth with two games to go suggests they are about to lose.
