The Independent has reported with apparent confidence that Louis van Gaal will be installed as Manchester United manager in the next week. They say:
Louis van Gaal set to be appointed Manchester United manager next week – with Ryan Giggs on his staff
A major problem for Manchester United in relation to this appointment is how they are going to conduct their transfer business for the summer.
Ed Woodward will of course take the reins with the deals but some players are surely going to want to talk to the manager in person before committing to major contracts.
With Van Gaal starting his training camp for the World Cup on May 7 there is precious little time to form a shortlist, never mind speak to any of those targets.
Reports suggest that the Dutchman will prioritise the signings of Mats Hummels, Marco Reus and Toni Kroos this summer.
Whilst they would undoubtedly be excellent additions for Manchester United they would surely need some convincing about their roles in the team before signing long term deals.
By the time Holland are eliminated from the World Cup it will probably be the second week of July and with many clubs keen to do their business prior to the world’s biggest football competition you would imagine that lots of top targets would have been snapped up by then.
So while it’s not a completely impossible situation we believe that van Gaal is going to have to do a lion’s share of work over the next week in order to set the foundations for Manchester United summer transfer business – if he does take the job of course.
If he does conduct transfer negotiations during the World Cup you can only imagine the response from the Dutch press and national team. They surely wouldn’t be happy with him dividing his time at such an important period for the country.
We still think that Ryan Giggs has all the attributes to succeed as Manchester united manager but it now looks almost certain that van Gaal will take the job for the next few years.
For Manchester United’s sake we hope that the club doesn’t have to suffer a similar summer window as they did last season.
