DAVID MOYES, the Everton manager, is considering a bid to take Tim Howard on loan from Manchester United next season amid uncertainty over the future of Nigel Martyn.

Martyn has not played since Everton’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to Chelsea on January 28, after which he had surgery on a fractured ankle, and while the 39-year-old hopes to be given the all-clear by specialists in the next few days, Moyes is unsure whether to offer him a new contract.

Instead, he is contemplating signing a younger goalkeeper on loan, with Chris Kirkland, who is out of favour at Liverpool, another possible target once his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion ends.

While Liverpool might be unwilling to help out their fierce rivals by loaning them Kirkland, Sir Alex Ferguson is understood to be open to the idea of allowing Howard to spend a season with another Barclays Premiership club to gain more first-team experience.

The American made 44 league appearances in his first two seasons at Old Trafford after his move from New York/New Jersey MetroStars in July 2003, but he has been restricted to only 45 minutes of Premiership action since Ferguson signed Edwin van der Sar from Fulham last summer.

The goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford is intriguing, with Van der Sar not expected to stay beyond the end of his two-year contract next summer. Howard, despite struggling to live up to his early promise, remains a contender to succeed the Holland goalkeeper in the long term, but the 26-year-old’s development has stalled and he would benefit from playing regularly again next season.

United also have high hopes for Ben Foster, who was signed from Stoke City last season and immediately went on loan to Watford, where he has made a big impression, and several of their younger goalkeepers.

Depending on their plans for Foster, whom Watford wish to keep for another year regardless of whether they are in the Premiership or the Coca-Cola Championship next season, United may try to sign another goalkeeper in the summer.

Ferguson and his staff have considered Lukasz Fabianski, a 21-year-old from Legia Warsaw, but are thought to favour a more experienced candidate to cover for Van der Sar, particularly if Howard and Foster go on loan next season.