26th April, 2014
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has reached a deal to join Manchester United as manager after the World Cup, replacing sacked David Moyes, a Dutch newspaper report said on Saturday.
Popular broadsheet De Telegraaf said: “The national coach late last (Friday) night reached a deal with the top British club,” without citing sources.
“The man who’s the absolute number one to replace axed coach David Moyes will immediately take up the job when the Dutch Eleven is knocked out of the World Cup in Brazil,” the paper added.
Van Gaal, 62, who has been on holiday at his villa in Portugal’s Algarve “has been in talks with Ed Woodward, lawyer for club owners the Glazer brothers for a multi-year, multi-million contract,” it said.
Included in the deal would be a 100 million euros ($138 million) in transfer fees to beef up United’s flagging fortunes.
Van Gaal, whose stylish way of football and no-nonsense attitude has earned him the nickname the “Iron Tulip”, has emerged as the front-runner to take over the hot seat at Old Trafford after Moyes’ unceremonious end-of-season release.
The Dutchman brings with him a long list of successes including several Dutch titles with top club Ajax and unfashionable AZ Alkmaar, a Bundesliga crown with Bayern Munich and Spanish championship with Barcelona.
Van Gaal has previously said he wanted to move to British football after the World Cup and has in the past also been linked a possible deal with Tottenham.
With the arrival of United’s representatives in Portugal, “Tottenham Hotspur saw earlier this week that there was little chance in the fight to sign up the Dutch coach,” De Telegraaf said.
Manchester United has dismissed press reports in the Netherlands that the club had agreed a three-year deal with Louis van Gaal for him to replace the sacked David Moyes as coach.
United, who have put veteran player Ryan Giggs in charge until the end of the season, quickly denied the reports.
“There is nothing to report. We have not signed a new manager. When we have something to report, we will announce it,” a club spokesman said.