Jaap Stam

Amid the fallout from Roy Keane’s literary efforts, the controversy surrounding Old Traffords last would be author remains unclear. Although Manchester United have rightfully suggested that no player will now be allowed permission to write an autobiography whilst at the club, the situation surrounding the sale of Jaap Stam has yet to be resolved. A number of different explanations were offered at the time, but the fans are still unclear as to why the club sold their based defender at such short notice, without a reasonable explanation for such an abrupt transfer. The first explanation, provided by the club, is that Stam had failed to recover sufficiently ...

Jaap Stam was, from 1998 until August 2001 my favourite Manchester United player. Of course, after that time he ceased to be a Manchester United player at all, but in his time at the Old Trafford club he proved to most people that he was, without doubt, one of the world's top defenders. Signed in the simmer of 1998 from PSV Eindhoven for a fee of £10.5 million (a record at that time for a defender), Stam looked a true powerhouse, with his solid build and six foot, three inch frame, yet he took a little time to settle in the United back four. His United career didn't get off to the best of starts- a 3-0 defeat in the Charity Shield at Wembley ...

Jaap Stam's recent transfer from Manchester United to Lazio raised more than a few eyebrows in the football world. For three years, the colossal Dutch defender had been a rock at the heart of the United defence, helping to bring trophy after trophy - including the Champions League which had for so long eluded United - back to Old Trafford. Stam had arrived in Manchester from PSV Eindhoven in a long, drawn-out affair three summers ago, but within a matter of days, he was told his services were no longer required with the English champions. There has been much speculation over the motives behind Stam's departure - but all signs would appear to point to his ...