Ryan Giggs set to sign new United deal to play in 40

Sir Alex Ferguson is confident Ryan Giggs will be playing for Manchester United next season.

Giggs, 39, will become only the third outfield player in the Premier League era, joining Teddy Sheringham and Gordon Strachan, to play into his 40s if he stays on at Old Trafford.

The evergreen is already United's oldest outfield player in the post-war era, but has some way to go if he wants to take the all-time record.

That title is currently held by Billy Meredith, a Welsh outside forward who was 46 years and 281 days when he made his last appearance in red, on May 7, 1921 against Derby County.

'He will play for another year,' said Ferguson to the club's in-house TV station MUTV.

'There are no discerning signs of tiredness or weakness in his game, his quality is still there and he has fantastic balance.

'He has the appetite for it and he is just an incredible human being.'

Though Giggs has seen his role limited in his twilight years, he remains a key part of the Manchester United squad, making 17 appearances this season.

Giggs, who has also made a club record 926 appearances for United, captained the side in the 1-0 FA Cup replay win over West Ham on Wednesday night.

However, Giggs was rather more coy than his boss when told that Ferguson suggested he could easily play for another year.

'I don't feel like that now!' he said after playing the full 90 minutes against West Ham.

'I'm enjoying it more than ever at the moment, though. The FA Cup at Old Trafford...if you don't enjoy it you need to pack it in.'

Giggs will become only the third outfield player to play into his 40s if he carries on next year, he is already the oldest outfield player, post-Second World War, to play for United, though goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar holds the record for the oldest overall.

Van der Sar was 40 years, 211 days when he made his final appearance for United in the 2011 Champions League loss to Barcelona at Wembley.

In United's overall history, it is another Welshman who has the honour of being the oldest player.

Billy Meredith is an interesting story, the Welsh forward played 11 seasons and racked up more than 300 appearances at Manchester City in the late 1800s and early 1900s, winning the FA Cup in 1904.

He was then caught up in a bribery and corruption scandal in 1904 after he allegedly offered to pay Aston Villa's Alex Leake £10 to lose a match.

City banned Meredith from playing for 18 months, but during his ban he controversially moved across the city to pay for United.

In 11 seasons at Old Trafford, Meredith again racked up more than 300 appearances, though his stint was littered with more silverware.

Meredith, who also picked up 48 Welsh caps between 1895 and 1920, was part of the United side that won the club's first two League titles, in 1907-08 and 1910-11.

Along with United team-mate Charlie Roberts he was involved in organising the first meeting of the Players' Union.

He added an FA Cup in 1909 before going back to City for the final three years of his career.