Louis van Gaal admits it will not be easy to sign the players he thinks are needed to improve Manchester United.
United landed in Manchester yesterday after completing a near-perfect pre-season tour of the United States.
Despite only assuming his position just two days before leaving for the US, Van Gaal racked up victories over the Los Angeles Galaxy, Roma, Internazionale, Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Almost everything went to plan, but the United boss is still not totally content with his squad.
The Dutchman has admitted he wants to sign new defenders before the season starts, but he concedes landing his targets will prove hard.
“Manchester United shall buy players when we can improve our selection,” the United manager said. “And that is a lot more difficult than you think.”
Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen and Borussia Dortmund centre-back Mats Hummels remain Van Gaal’s top targets, although signing the latter is proving hard because the German club have already lost one star this summer in Robert Lewandowski, who joined bitter rivals Bayern Munich.
Another priority for Van Gaal is cutting loose the players he deems surplus to requirements. Those who are surely in the most danger include Javier Hernandez, Nani, Shinji Kagawa, Marouane Fellaini and Anderson.
Van Gaal will not enjoy telling his unwanted players they have no future at the club, but he will not shirk away from making the changes he feels are necessary either.
“I won’t come with the axe – it’s not like that,” Van Gaal said.
“We have to be honest. We have to give advice to the players now at this moment and not at the end of August. Then we can’t change anymore and they don’t have a choice.”
United fans did not have to wait long to see Van Gaal’s no-nonsense approach. In his first press conference in LA two-and-a-half weeks ago, he criticised United for sanctioning a five-match tour that saw the squad clock up 13,500 air miles.
The United boss then criticised £27million (Dh167m) signing Luke Shaw for turning up to pre-season out of shape.
Van Gaal had some stern words for Wayne Rooney on a couple of occasions, but the England striker has no qualms with the Dutchman’s hard-line approach. “He is a tough but fair manager,” Rooney said. “Since he has come in he has given us all a different way of looking at football, so it’s been great for us.”
Van Gaal has implemented the same 3-4-2-1 formation he used with Holland in the latter stages of the World Cup. That came as something of a surprise given that United only have three senior centre-halves but Rooney, who is used to playing in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system, thinks the new formation is ideal.
“It has suited the whole team,” said the 28-year-old, who scored five goals in America. “The manager came in and looked at the players we have and he felt it was best for our team. And obviously the results have proven it.”
