THE GREATEST?

"We have wanted Tim Howard for a while and Tony Coton [United's goalkeeping coach] has followed him for some time through his contacts in the US. Tim's emergence alongside America's number one goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller tells you how highly regarded he is in the States, and we are delighted to bring such a promising young keeper to the club."

"Tony Coton had been in the States a couple of years ago and had seen Tim Howard play then," Fergie recalled.

"He'd been mentioning for a while having seen him. Tim at that point had just got into the Metro Stars side in place of former USA number one Tony Meola.

"Tony (Coton) was impressed from very early on but decided to just keep tabs on him and see how he got on. But he kept in touch with some people over in America. Eventually they sent him a video of Tim in action.

"Tony showed it to me and it really was an outstanding video. It was absolutely marvellous, so I told Tony to go over to America again and have another look at Tim in a couple of internationals.

"When he returned he simply said, 'you've got to sign him!' Tony, in fact, believes Tim has the potential to get to the Peter Schmeichel level here.

"I've watched him in the Confederation Cup during the summer and he did very well. He's big and he's quick like Schmeichel and seems to have a presence about him in goal. If you have speed and are big like Schmeichel was, then you have massive assets as a goalkeeper.

"We'll see now how Tim develops. There is plenty of time for him."