Louis van Gaal wanted to bring in one star player after another at Manchester United. The Dutch coach, who worked at Old Trafford between 2014 and 2016, submitted a very ambitious list to the board of the Red Devils which includes the names of Robert Lewandowski, Neymar and Sergio Ramos. However, none of the top players desired by Van Gaal turned out to be sensitive to a switch to the English superpower.
In an interview with FourFourTwo Van Gaal goes along the list of names he had in mind for Manchester United. “I wanted to bring Robert Lewandowski to the club. When that became a difficult matter, however, I tried it at Gonzalo Higuaín. And before I signed with Manchester United I talked to the board about Neymar. You have to have such a top club. just think big. Given the shirt sales, Neymar was an interesting option and I was also looking for fast wing attackers. For that reason I also kept an eye on Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mané “, Van Gaal looks back on his search in Manchester.
Thomas Müller, with whom Van Gaal had worked at Bayern Munich, was also a transfer target for Manchester United. “And in front of midfield I looked to N’Golo Kante. James Milner was also an option despite the age he was. For the defense of Manchester United, some big names also appeared on Van Gaal’s radar. “I went for Sergio Ramos and Mats Hummels, because our defense was not very reliable at the time.”
“So those were the players that topped my list, but in no case were we successful”, Van Gaal sighs almost five years after leaving Manchester United. “I don’t know why, because as a manager I was not involved in the negotiations. After I left the club, players like Mahrez and Kante ended up at Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, while Manchester United were unable to attract a single top player. I found that very strange “, said the former national coach of the Dutch.
Van Gaal did manage to bring Ángel Di María to Manchester, although the working relationship with the Argentinian player turned out to be very difficult. Memphis Depay Daley Blind, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Victor Valdés, Matteo Darmian, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luke Shaw and Sergio Romero were also added to the selection. Van Gaal captured the FA Cup with Manchester United in 2016, but was sacked shortly afterwards and replaced by José Mourinho.