Van Gaal given no assurances
WHILE Louis van Gaal yesterday spoke very much like a man who expects to still be Manchester United manager next season, the message from his employers continued to leave a question mark over the Dutchman’s future at Old Trafford.
In the case of United chief Ed Woodward, it was not so much a case of what he said but what he didn’t say as the club announced their latest financial figures.
Not once did Woodward refer to van Gaal as he praised the emergence of United’s young players this season and their progress to the FA Cup Final at Wembley next weekend.
This, remember, is a club who have conspicuously left their manager out of a promotional video for this summer’s tour of China. At best, United are leaving their options open.
Van Gaal still hopes to claim an unlikely place in the top four tomorrow by beating Bournemouth at Old Trafford and hoping Manchester City lose at Swansea, before taking his team to Wembley.
Then, as he acknowledged yesterday, it is up to the club.
‘I have said I shall be here, that is my opinion, so the board has to decide if it is like that,’ he admitted. ‘After this job, I go spoiling my wife.
‘I have worked with these circumstances already for six months and we are still in the race. You cannot say we are not. We can win the FA Cup. How many are still in the race? How many?
‘Of course, when we don’t qualify ourselves we don’t reach our aim. That is true because our aim was to qualify, but we are in the Final of the FA Cup and we are in the race in the last match, and mathematically we can qualify. How many teams can say that? Not many.’
By discussing the issue of summer transfer targets and how he and his players must improve next season, the 64-year-old came across as someone planning on seeing out the third year of his contract. However, it remains to be seen how much can be read into that.
Woodward has stayed silent on the issue, with the only yardstick being his decision to sack David Moyes in 2014 when qualification for the Champions League became mathematically impossible.
Sportsmail can reveal that van Gaal has asked Woodward for assurances about his future three times since Christmas — including after the Boxing Day loss at Stoke and United’s dismal Europa League defeat by Liverpool.
On each occasion, Woodward has told his manager that it is business as usual.
With Jose Mourinho continuing to wait in the wings, however, next weekend’s Wembley showpiece could still be van Gaal’s last match in charge.
Mourinho has made it quite clear he wants to return to the Premier League and it is no secret that the former Chelsea boss would jump at the chance to replace van Gaal.
Asked about his plans, Mourinho told Gentleman’s Journal: ‘It’s time to be back to work. I’ve not been working for a few months but I want to be working in July.
‘I can almost guarantee it. I don’t guarantee it because I don’t have a decision made. I don’t have a contract signed, but I have offers, I have options.
‘I will decide what I think motivates me more, what is better for me, what is better for my family but, yes, I will be working in July.
‘The Premier League is getting more competitive from an economic point of view.’