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LONDON. — Manchester United will back Louis van Gaal by splashing more than £150million again next summer. Van Gaal has been told money is no barrier if he wants to improve his squad. The Dutch coach spent £150m in the summer, including a British record £59.7m on Angel Di Maria, but still trail Chelsea by 11 points in the English Premier League.
United’s hierarchy believe Van Gaal is steadily turning round the club’s fortunes and will return them to the Champions League next season.
And in a bid to match Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League and re-establish their position at European football’s top table, they are prepared to match last summer’s record spending spree, with the plan to have an “elite” player for every position to be able to compete with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Among their targets are understood to be Roma’s Holland international midfielder Kevin Strootman, Borussia Dortmund pair Mats Hummels and Marco Reus, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin, Barcelona’s Dani Alves and Southampton’s newly capped England defender Nathaniel Clyne.
Plus they could pay the £42m fee they have already agreed with Monaco to turn Radamel Falcao’s season-long loan spell into a permanent move, but only if he can steer clear of injuries and return to the goal-scoring form that made him one of Europe’s most sought after strikers during his time with Porto and Atletico Madrid.
United spent £156m on six players in the last transfer window, including a British record £59.7m on Angel Di Maria. Including the £62m spent by former boss David Moyes on Maraoune Fellaini and Juan Mata in his 10 months in charge, it took United’s spending to well over £200m since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 18 months ago,
United had to pay premium prices to sign Fellaini, Mata, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera and Atletico boss Diego Simeone warned they will have to pay a lot more than £20m for centre-back Godin, who has been a key player in Simeone’s squad since moving to the Vicente Calderon stadium in 2010 from Villarreal.
He said: “Let’s talk about something else. How much? Twenty (million)? For Godin? It must be a mistake.”
However, United chief executive Ed Woodward has already said any “short-term fixes” in January are unlikely.
Speaking last month, he revealed: “We have targets we are looking at for next summer.
“Should any of them become available in January, which is obviously rare, we will consider acting. But it is a low probability.”
United sources question whether Roma would allow Dutch international Strootman (24) to leave when they are still battling for the Serie A title.
Similarly, Borussia Dortmund would probably be reluctant to release Hummels (25) with the club in a surprise relegation battle.
As for 28-year-old Godin, his Atletico Madrid team still have a chance of retaining La Liga and remain in the Champions League.
With fourth-placed United targeting a spot in next season’s Champions League and with their commercial arm continuing to raise huge sums, Van Gaal has been told he can eclipse last summer’s spending.
He will also be allowed to decide the United futures of defenders Rafael, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and striker Robin van Persie, who are all out of contract at the end of the next season.
The club are expected to open talks with goalkeeper David De Gea – he is also out of contract in 2016 – while midfielder Michael Carrick is set to be offered a deal to keep him at the club beyond next summer.
Out-of-favour midfielder Anderson is almost certain to leave, although United have ruled out the option of paying the Brazilian the remainder of his contract to get him out of the club sooner.
United, meanwhile, are said to be “relaxed” about the future of David de Gea, despite Real Madrid’s interest in taking him back to Spain.
De Gea, whose outstanding performances for United have earned him his first international caps for his country this season, has only 18 months left on his contract but United are keen to offer him a new long-term deal and talks with his representatives are expected to start in the New Year.
And United will almost certainly trigger the option of a one-season extension in Michael Carrick’s contract which runs out next summer. — The Daily Express.
Online Reporter