Former Dutch international goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is being lined up as the next general manager of Ajax, the club announced on Friday.
A statement on the Dutch champions’s website read: “Ajax can confirm the clubs are in negotiations with Edwin van der Sar over a management job ... but these negotiations have not yet concluded.”
Ajax have been without a general manager for several months after a feud between Louis van Gaal, who has since left and been appointed coach of the Dutch national team, and Ajax legend Johan Cruyff.
Cruyff, a key member of the club’s board, was incensed that van Gaal was appointed without his knowledge but has now apparently thrown his weight behind van den Sar, the most capped Dutch player of all time with 130 international appearances.
However, reports in the Dutch press indicate the management committee has expressed reservations over a man of van der Sar’s comparative inexperience being given charge of a club which generates an annual turnover of some 100 million euros.
If appointed, van der Sar would be supported in his new role by an assistant, local businessman Michael Kinsbergen.