Manchester United plan to give Louis van Gaal the director of football role as they pursue Jose Mourinho’s signature.
English newspaper The Sun is reporting that Louis van Gaal could stay on at Manchester United next year after all, but not as the manager. According to the report, he would be given the director of football role while the club pursues Jose Mourinho as their next manager.
The reason they want to retain him is because he and chairman Ed Woodward remain good friends, and he “wants to use his vast footballing knowledge.” It would also let van Gaal remain until the end of his three-year contract rather than have the team pay him to not manage the team.
It wouldn’t be the first time Mourinho and van Gaal have worked together, as they did so at Barcelona. While Mourinho isn’t a lock to join Manchester United, they reached out to him since the moment he was fired by Chelsea. However, Paris Saint-Germain have thrown themselves into the mix since then.
Van Gaal’s gone through a disastrous spell at Manchester United, having failed to get his team to the top four, and crashing out of the Champions League group stage. He was even booed by the fans during his end-of-season speech, following a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
This move would ensure that van Gaal won’t be able to save his job even if he wins the FA Cup this Saturday. Meanwhile, the prospect of Mourinho managing Manchester United has never looked closer to happening than it does now.
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