Edwin van der Sar made his admiration clear on an iconic ex-player who earned the highest praise of all from Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.
The 54-year-old Dutchman enjoyed a prolific playing spell at Old Trafford after legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed him from Fulham in 2005.
Edwin van der Sar cost Manchester United a reported £2m at the time, but the former Red Devils star became a mainstay under Sir Alex Ferguson at the club.
The United legend is widely regarded as one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League club’s history and saw out the rest of his playing career with the Red Devils.
Van der Sar lifted four Premier League titles, a Champions League and two League Cups under former United manager Ferguson before he retired as a player in 2011.
Edwin van der Sar feels the same way as Man Utd legends Roy Keane and Paul Scholes about Zinedine Zidane‘s remarkable talent
Edwin van der Sar made a name for himself at Dutch side Ajax in the 1990s before the Manchester United legend made a sensational move to Juventus in 1999.
During his time at the Serie A club, the former Juventus star crossed paths with Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane, who arrived in Turin from Bordeaux in 1996.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Van der Sar was asked for the perfect one word to describe the Juventus version of Zinedine Zidane that he shared the locker room with in his career.
“Immense,” he simply responded.
When speaking about signing for Juventus from Ajax, Van der Sar added: “The summer I arrived, my teammates all took me out to dinner: [Ciro] Ferrara, [Mark] Iuliano, Zidane, [Filippo] Inzaghi, [Gianluca] Zambrotta, [Edgar] Davids…
“The food in Turin’s restaurants was excellent: at the end of the evening, I’d take out my credit card, but I could never pay.”
What did Roy Keane and Paul Scholes both say about Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane?
Paul Scholes had his own encounters with Zinedine Zidane at club level and on the international stage, with the former United star in awe at the “top-class” Frenchman.
“Probably the best player I played against,” he said in 2011, as per Manchester United’s official website in 2024.
“He made everything look really easy and he was just top class in everything that he did. You just couldn’t get the ball off him.”
Roy Keane, much like former United teammate Scholes, felt that France icon Zidane was the best player that he ever faced in his legendary playing career.
“The best player I’ve ever come up against would have to be Zidane,” he told The Sun, as per Sky Sports.
“It seems so easy for him. He works hard on his game, he is a physically strong player, he’s got a great attitude and has all the attributes.”
Zidane is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time and the 53-year-old former Real Madrid and Juventus star lifted the World Cup with his country in 1998.
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