Louis van Gaal has revealed the ten players he tried to sign for Manchester United in 2014 when he was appointed manager.
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Since being sacked in 2016, Van Gaal has criticised the Manchester United board for failing to sign the players he wanted. In 2014, the club spent around €200 million signing Ángel Di María, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao, which were not the players that Van Gaal had in mind.
Speaking to Four Four Two, Van Gaal said, “I wanted Robert Lewandowski. When that turned out to be difficult, I tried to get Gonzalo Higuaín instead. Before I arrived, I already spoke to the board about Neymar.
“When you’re at United, you have to think big. He had also been of interest to the club when it came to selling shirts. And I also wanted to have fast wingers. For that reason, I also tried to get Sadio Mané and Riyad Mahrez.
“And I wanted N’Golo Kanté in the centre of midfield. I even tried to get James Milner, who was quite old but was very multifunctional and had leadership qualities.
“For the defence, I wanted Sergio Ramos and Mats Hummels, because ours wasn’t that strong in building up from behind. Those were my top targets, but we couldn’t meet them. I don’t know why, because as a manager I was not involved in the negotiations.”
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