Bengaluru, September 11: Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar has taken himself out of contention for the new technical director role at Manchester United. The Red Devils are planning to appoint a director of football following the reaction to their disappointing summer transfer window.

United are set to follow the modern trend of adding a connection between the manager and the board and a director of football is now expected to be announced in the coming days to ease the matter. The Old Trafford side have been linked with several names since then and one of the names which have come up recently is their former player Edwin Van Der Sar.

The Dutch shot-stopper, who spent six seasons at Old Trafford winning four Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy has gone from marketing director to CEO at Ajax. The former keeper has been praised for his role at the Dutch side where he helped progress a successful recruitment model of developing and selling on promising young players.

His proficiency in the market also helped the side acquire some promising talents around the globe, for which they went on to reach the Europa League final in 2017, where they lost to the Red Devils. His rise to the big occasions and a rich background of playing in the Premier league certainly has now made him one of the leading candidates for the post and many have started counting him as the next director of football at United.

But dissing all the rumours, the 47-year-old man now has come out to describe the reports as "nonsense" and insisted that he's committed to the Dutch club, despite four seasons without any silverware. "I saw it (the report) a few weeks ago in the press, but that story about United is nonsense," Van der Sar was quoted as saying on the Inside Ajax program.

"I think I have a two-year contract. Ajax is my club and I would like to stay longer. The success we strive for and want to achieve is beautiful."

United have not had a director of football in their 140-year history but just like clubs like Manchester City, Sevilla, Roma and Arsenal, they are expected to follow the footprint.

The Red Devils plan to overhaul their recruitment policy once the current restructure of the club and extension of facilities is complete. A director of football would be elected to provide the extra layer of expertise to identify players and suggest future manager appointments.

Apart from Van Der Sar, United have recently been linked with AS Roma's Sporting head Monchi while RB Leipzig's head of recruitment Paul Mitchell is also said to be one of the top candidates.