Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that he is closing on a deal to bring David De Gea to Old Trafford.

Ferguson is hoping to bring the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper in to replace Edwin van der Sar, who will be retiring after Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona.

“We’ve been working on [the signing] for quite a while,” the manager told United’s official website. “We identified him a while back as one we should go for.

“He’s a young goalkeeper, very quick, with good composure and presence. He’s an outstanding replacement for Edwin van der Sar.

“We were looking for someone with the same types of qualities. One great quality Edwin always had was his composure and organisational ability. David De Gea is very similar that way.”

Meanwhile, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo has stated that there has been no official approach regarding the deal, reported to be around £18m.

“We don’t know anything,” he told Cadena Ser. “Officially neither Manchester or the player at the moment have informed us of anything.

“He knows very well that he can negotiate [with other clubs] but always that they have to pay his buy-out clause.”

Other potential candidates to fill the number one shirt had been Maarten Stekelenburg and Manuel Neuer.