Northampton Town have signed young Manchester United goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler on loan until the January transfer window.

Ron-Robert began his career with his home-town club in Germany, FC Cologne.

Good in one-on-one situations and an excellent shot-stopper, Zieler joined United in the summer of 2005 as one of the most highly-regarded young goalkeepers in Europe.

Zieler played 18 times for United's Academy Under-18s in his first season, and quickly began turning in the performances to back up his clear potential.

Ron-Robert's assimilation to life in Manchester was helped by regular English lessons, and he has continued his development through from the U18s to the Reserves.

In July 2008, Ron-Robert started every game in Germany's success at the UEFA U19 Championships, playing a key role in their success and continuing his rise through the international ranks.

"Under the terms of the loan ruling, Frank Fielding will have to go back to Blackburn after the Scunthorpe game," said boss Stuart Gray.

"His 93 days will be up then and he will go back to his parent club. With that in mind, we would have been left with only one professional keeper in Chris Dunn and a youth scholar in Paul Walker between then and when the January transfer window opens, so we have taken Ron-Robert in before the loan window closed to help us out in that period.

"He is another young player with a fantastic pedigree and we are looking forward to him joining us."

Picture reproduced with kind assistance of Manchester United media dept.

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