Cheap Keeps at the Man Utd Inn.

Freshly spashing around the news headlines at the moment, Edwin Van der Sar is out for two months after surgery on a broken finger and bone in his left hand.

The Guardian reports Van der Sar sustained the injury saving a penalty during United's shoot-out against Bayern Munich in a pre-season tournament in Germany last week and United have confirmed he will be out for "up to eight weeks".

His absence opens the way for Ben Foster to prove his worth at Old Trafford. Foster has been described by United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, as England's best goalkeeper but the 26-year-old has had few first-team chances because of injuries and Van der Sar's excellence.

Despite this article, Foster is far from a nailed on starter as Tomasz Kuszczak is Man United's other option between the sticks. So far this preseason Van der Sar has played in 4 games for 225 minutes, Kuszczak has played 3 games for 180 miuntes, and Foster has played 3 games for 135 minutes. Like everything else Man Utd or Chelsea related, the Community Shield will be the best indicator of what might happen for team lineups in the EPL season opener.

Van der Sar's injury is going to be a windfall for almost everyone. Both Man Utd backup keepers are a mere £5.0m, so this transfer will free up £1.5m if you had VdS, Cech or Reina, or will replace a mid-table keeper with a premium keeper. And if Man Utd keep a clean sheet in their first game at home to Birmingham, then expect large price increases in whichever lucky keeper gets the first team gloves. Swapping in the replacement Man Utd keeper is likely to be of benefit to almost any team.

Potentially this will free up a lot of extra dosh that can be useful in so many ways. Evra can be upgraded to Vidic, who is more likely to score. Tevez or Owen, both in teams with stiff competition for starting spots, can be upgraded to the more likely starters of Van Persie, Adebayor or Berbatov. Any basement priced players in your starting squad can get swapped out for slightly more reliable ones.

In any case, Van der Sar's injury means good things for Fantasy League managers. But keep an eye on who starts in goal during the Community Shield!