Raimond Van der Gouw has revealed that he could snub a new deal at Manchester United and finish his playing career in the United States. The Dutch keeper, who has leapfrogged Mark Bosnich to become number two to Fabien Barthez at Old Trafford this season, is out of contract next summer.
According to the Daily Star, the 37-year-old told a Dutch newspaper: “Although my agent pulled off something special to get me to such a great club as United, I'm open to another exciting adventure. There have been signs of interest in me coming from America. It's all the same to me which manager I play for. I would naturally need to discuss it with my family, but I would certainly love to play in Florida. I've still got several good years in me. Another possibility would be to go back to Holland. I'm considering whether to go and live in Apeldoorn and it would be nice to play professional football back there.”
Van der Gouw, who was signed from Vitesse Arnhem in July 1996 as cover for Peter Schmeichel, also claimed that United assistant boss Steve McClaren had hinted that he would be offered an extension to his present contract. He said: “I've picked up a few signals that they still want to keep me. I spoke to the assistant manager and he said that the club's bosses were very pleased with me. I told him that I was in the last year of my contract and he answered `So what?'. I thought that was very nice. It's an honour to play for Manchester United. They are such a big club and I'm surprised that sometimes people don't realise that.
Filed by Sinéad Gleeson
