Sign up to the Independent's betting newsletter for the latest tips and offers
Sign up to the Independent's betting newsletter
After a week that has seen them outmanoeuvred in the transfer window, Louis van Gaal on Friday insisted Manchester United can still get any player the club wants.
The sight of Pedro signing for Chelsea three days after United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, flew to Barcelona, ostensibly to seal the deal for the forward, looked an embarrassment. Now, Van Gaal, who saw negotiations for Sergio Ramos end with the defender signing an improved contract at Real Madrid, denied that United had been beaten to the punch by Manchester City for Nicolas Otamendi. The centre-half, he said, had not been part of his plans.
“You say that Manchester City were quick, quicker than Manchester United?” he said. “I think the truth is that when Manchester United wants a player, he shall come.”
He added his relationship with Woodward, who has been criticised for signing too few players under David Moyes and spending too freely under his successor, was still strong. “I have the idea that you want to separate Ed Woodward from me – never,” said Van Gaal. “Every day I am updated by him and I trust him.
“If we wanted Pedro, there would not have been any problem. There was a release clause [of £22m] in his contract, so it would have been the most easy transfer. You can write what you want about this but we cannot say what we want – that is the difference.
“When I was asked, ‘Does Pedro fit the profile of the player I want?’ I cannot lie. I said ‘yes’ because he is fast and creative and from that you say he is coming to Manchester. You have to ask Pedro [why not].”
Manchester United's alternative 23-man squad of transfer targets
Show all 23
The word from Old Trafford is that it was they who pulled out once Van Gaal began to have misgivings about the transfer. Nevertheless, there seems to have been a strong element of personal choice by the forward as to where he went. In Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea possessed a former team-mate of Pedro’s who would prove a powerful advocate for a move to Stamford Bridge. United, too, possessed a former Barcelona footballer who had won trophies with Pedro but this was Victor Valdes, who had been told he no longer had a future at Old Trafford.
Despite beginning the season with three successive victories, Van Gaal agreed with Wayne Rooney’s pessimistic assessment of his own form – he last scored for his club in April, nine matches ago.
Van Gaal, who trusts the United captain implicitly, said that Rooney had taken the first step to finding his form by admitting there was a problem. “It has to start with the player himself,” the manager said. “He has to admit he is bad and then he can improve. When you don’t admit it, you cannot improve.
“He takes a risk, I think, but he is very confident he will make the goals we expect from him and I am confident also. My standards he knows already. He knows my philosophy and what I want from a striker.”
The Independent has launched a new football app! Live scores, in-game stats, breaking news, videos and push notifications are just some of the many features. Use the links below to download and get more from Indy Football...
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies