Edwin van der Sar has been approached about coming out of international retirement to play for Holland in next year's World Cup, when he will be only four months short of his 40th birthday.
At the same time the Manchester United goalkeeper is giving serious consideration to extending his club career at Old Trafford, and is open-minded about the possibility of staying on another season if he feels he can maintain his high standards.
Van der Sar has not played for Holland since winning his 130th cap, against Norway in a World Cup qualifier 13 months ago. He was playing on that occasion only after a special request from the manager, Bert van Marwijk, because Maarten Stekelenburg and Henk Timmer were both injured, and the Dutch football federation is now hoping that he can be persuaded to return for a second time if there is the promise of playing in South Africa next June.
He has turned down the first approach but there is a sense that he is open to more talks and willing, at the very least, to discuss the idea. He has told associates that he has said no "so far" and is enjoying the benefits from having a free schedule when Holland now meet, spending the last international break on holiday with his family in Dubai. However, the lure of being involved in the fourth World Cup of his 20-year career is strong and Van Marwijk is keen to bring in the two-time Champions League winner and two-time European goalkeeper of the year.
Replacing him has not been easy for Holland and Sir Alex Ferguson faces the same dilemma at Old Trafford, with neither of the Dutchman's understudies, Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak, making a substantial case to challenge for his place on a permanent basis.
Ferguson has adopted a policy of resting Van der Sar in United's more inconsequential games and that means a return for Foster tomorrow, when Besiktas visit Old Trafford in a Champions League tie with little resting on it. However, Ferguson admitted he had "no indication" whether Van der Sar would continue.
"He has not decided," Ferguson said. "He has come back from his [hand] injury well after missing the start of the season. Usually, around Christmas time he will outline his plans, how long he can go on, and we will wait for that. I don't know his plans and when you get to that age and have a young family you wonder whether he does have plans to go back to Holland. He is a very intelligent man, he understands his body better than anyone and will make the right judgment."
Ferguson is an admirer of Igor Akinfeev, the CSKA Moscow goalkeeper, but ideally the United manager wants either Kuszczak, or preferably Foster, to show that Van der Sar has a dependable long-term successor. Foster had an erratic start to the season while Van der Sar was injured but he has remained in Fabio Capello's England plans and Ferguson is not swayed on his opinion that United have England's best goalkeeper on their payroll.
"I have said that all along and it does not change; the boy has terrific ability," he said. "He needs big-game experience because he hasn't got that, but Edwin is 39 so there will be an opportunity one day. He [Foster] and Tomasz Kuczszak will fight it out, I am sure of that."
With United qualified for the Champions League's knockout phase, Ferguson intends to field the sort of team tomorrow that would be used in the earlier rounds of the Carling Cup. That means places for Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck and, possibly, Gabriel Obertan, while the fit-again Park Ji-sung may also be in line to play.
