Former Manchester United and Ajax goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, is receiving treatment after bleeding around his brain.
Van der Sar, 52, is reportedly in intensive care in a hospital in Croatia, where he has been on vacation.
Ajax confirmed in a statement that the former Netherlands goalkeeper, who was capped 130 times for his country was in a “stable condition.”
The Eredivisie club also added in the statement that: “Everyone at Ajax wishes Edwin a speedy recovery. We’re thinking of you.”
The club which was overseen by the United legend also failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2009. He had a great soccer career but now he is in the hospital battling for his life.
The United legend hung his gloves after leaving Old Trafford in 2011 before joining the Ajax board in 2012 and later becoming the club’s chief executive in 2016.
Edwin van der Sar featured in 266 matches for the Red Devils and helped them to win three Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008.
His former club Manchester United in a statement said: “Sending all our love and strength to you, Edwin.”
“Manchester United is holding Edwin van der Sar and his family in our collective thoughts after hearing the news that the legendary goalkeeper has fallen seriously ill.”
Aside United and Ajax, the renowned goalie also played in the Premier League for Fulham and in Serie A for Juventus.
Van der Sar when leaving his position as chief executive of Ajax stated that: “After almost 11 years on the board, I am done. We have experienced wonderful things together, but it has also been an incredibly tough period … I feel the need to take some distance, get some rest, and do other things.”
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar is a Dutch football executive and former player who was most recently the chief executive of AFC Ajax.
The United legend was born on 29 October 1970 and started his senior playing career in the early 1990s with Ajax.
The United legend is considered to be a member of the club’s golden generation and was part of the Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995.
He left Ajax for Juventus in 1999, where he spent two years before moving to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United in 2005.
With Manchester United Edwin van der Sar won the Champions League title in 2008, making him one of just eight players at the time to have won the competition with more than one club.
He subsequently hung his keeping gloves in 2011 but came out of retirement in 2016 to play a match for Dutch amateur team VV Noordwijk, for whom he had previously played as a youth.
