25-year-old keeper Ben Williams has signed a three-year deal with United today, making him the second summer signing of the 2008/09 pre-season.

Williams, a former Manchester United trainee, has been with Crewe Alexandra for the past four seasons and has made just under 150 appearances for the Gresty Road outfit.

He flew through the ranks at Old Trafford, earning a professional contract at the age of 18, and enjoyed loan spells with Altrincham and Chesterfield in a bid to gain first team experience whilst with the Manchester giants.

John Ward told us: "It was obvious, once Keiren Westwood left, that the goalkeeper position was going to become a priority for us. We wanted to bring someone in who would provide the right level of competition for a starting place in our first team, and we think we've got that with Ben. He has played regularly for Crewe, and we know all about him, so we're all now looking forward to working with him. He's here to fight for his place, and to show us what he can do, and we're very pleased that he has joined the club. As we keep saying, we want players here who will strengthen the squad, and who will help us to improve on what we have already done, and this is a signing that we feel will help us to do just that."

We'll be speaking to Ben later today, to get his thoughts on the move to Cumbria.

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