Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal has made a sensational claim earlier today that the club needs to sign a player with world class calibre, in the level of Hazard, Neymar or Suarez.
The Dutchman claimed that it is impossible to sign Cristiano because of the fee Real Madrid would demand, but his team needs a superstar in order to bridge the gap between them and the European elite next season.
The former Holland boss also stated that his team lacks vision and creativity in the final third and will struggled to break down teams that are defensively organised and ‘park the bus’.
Van Gaal claimed that Chelsea and City have the likes of Hazard and Aguero to open up such deep defenses, but United lack a player of that ilk. While Van Gaal appreciated the contributions of someone like Ashley Young, he claimed that the England winger is no Neymar.
“We can use much more creativity,” he told reporters in the United States. “We have Wayne [Rooney], [Juan] Mata, [Memphis] Depay, [Ashley] Young, [Adnan] Januzaj, [James] Wilson, [Ander] Herrera. Young has had a fantastic season, but he is not a Neymar and we have to compete with that kind of class.
“When it is possible to buy, for a reasonable price, players from that level, we shall do that because they can contribute as they are better.
“Ronaldo? He may come, but it is not possible. Why not? Because you have the club [Real], Ronaldo and then you have Manchester United and how much Manchester United want to spend.”
“Chelsea have Hazard,” Van Gaal added. “He can always make goals, he can always make an action and decide a goal. Chelsea also have Willian and Oscar. Manchester City have [Sergio] Aguero, it’s the same type. Barcelona has [Lionel] Messi, Neymar and [Luis] Suarez. We as Manchester United have to compete with these clubs, so we have to look also for that kind of players.
“You need creative players. You need that because you have to disorganise [teams that park] the bus and, next year, there might be more teams who are parking the bus, so we must look for more creativity.”
“With Morgan Schneiderlin, with Bastian Schweinsteiger, with Memphis Depay, with Matteo Darmian, we are better than last year. But we have to be much better and I say to you that means the creativity of my players in the front,” he said.
“At Chelsea, we didn’t score and they scored and that is the difference in the game. If we had won that game, the gap would have been five points and the pressure was high [on Chelsea].”
It would be certainly interesting to see what his players think of his comments but there is no doubt that United have the financial means to attract the best players in the world, someone who can come in and take them to the next level.
But considering the current state of the market, it is difficult to see United attracting that kind of talent. With the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez, Hazard and Neymar definitely off the market, who could Van Gaal realistically go for? Benzema? Reus? Muller? time will tell.
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