Louis van Gaal has said 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 assuming his position just two days before leaving for the United States, Van Gaal racked up victories over the Los Angeles Galaxy, Roma, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Liverpool.
United won the final of the eight-team competition on Monday when they beat Liverpool 3-1 behind goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.
Almost everything went to plan, but the United manager is still not totally content with his squad.
The Dutchman has said he wants to sign new defenders before the season starts, but he concedes landing his targets will prove difficult.
“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 difficult because the German club have already lost one star this summer in Robert Lewandowski, who joined bitter Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich.
Another priority for Van Gaal is cutting loose the players he deems surplus to requirements.
Those who are likely in the most danger of being cut loose include Javier Hernandez, Nani, Shinji Kagawa, Marouane Fellaini and Anderson.
Van Gaal said he will not enjoy telling his unwanted players that they have no future at the club, but he will not shirk away from making the changes he feels are necessary.
“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 any more and they don’t have a choice.
“Of course it’s difficult to say something after two weeks, but I think you have to say something.”
As to their form in the pre-season friendlies, Van Gaal said he was hopeful it would give them the confidence to make a strong start to the English Premier League campaign when it begins on August 16 with a home game against Swansea City.
“This will give us momentum, for sure,” the Dutchman said.
“It’s always better to win. First we beat Roma, then we beat Inter Milan with penalties but we were much better, then we beat Madrid and then we had a test against a Premier League team.”
Wayne Rooney, who was voted player of the tournament, said he believed the time in the United States had been a success, and not just because of the results.
“It’s been a good few weeks,” he said. “We are happy with the work we have done here so we feel we can go home and play well when the season starts.”
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