Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is preparing new deals for several of his players.

The Times says United have already held preliminary discussions over new deals to extend the careers of Edwin van der Sar, the goalkeeper, who is undecided about his future, and Ryan Giggs for another year, but they are also discussing new deals for Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, John O'Shea and Ben Foster, the 24-year-old goalkeeper, who has yet to make his debut for the club.

In the cases of Evra and Vidic, the new contracts are designed to reward them for the progress they have made since joining the club in January 2006, with their basic wage due to climb to approximately £55,000 a week.