Louis van Gaal not expecting Manchester United summer exodus
Saturday 16 April 2016 17:51, UK
Louis van Gaal does not expect any Manchester United player to ask to leave, even if the club fails to reach the Champions League.
The current side are attempting to secure a place among European football's elite next season and avoid following in the footsteps of David Moyes' side, who failed to qualify for the competition after a miserable 2013/14 campaign.
United head into Saturday's Premier League clash at home to Aston Villa four points shy of fourth-placed Manchester City, but even usurping their neighbours may not be enough to secure Champions League football.
A maximum of five teams from one league can qualify for the competition, meaning if City and Liverpool both finish outside the top four but seal European glory, then fourth spot would become a Europa League berth.
That would be a wrench but Van Gaal is confident United would recover, especially as the manager does not expect any player to want to leave Old Trafford even if they miss out on Champions League qualification.
"There is not any player who wants to go away, I think," he said.
"And when another club wants to pay the figures that the board of Manchester United demand, then it is possible.
"But that is dependent on the board, of the decision of the board if a player can go."
Asked again whether players would want to leave for Champions League football, Van Gaal added: "I don't think so, I don't think so.
"But, of course, you have to ask the players, but the players are the participants of every week's match."
Few could afford to acquire United's top talent, but missing out on the Champions League would likely reignite Real Madrid's interest in goalkeeper David de Gea.
Real were willing to part with £29m and Costa Rica international 'keeper Keylor Navas to sign the Spaniard last summer, but the relevant paperwork was not completed before the transfer deadline.
De Gea subsequently signed a new four-year deal at United, a development that appears to have made Van Gaal forget the fact his star player was ready to quit the club.
"You have said that he is going to Real Madrid," he said. "I have said always that he stays. You remember that?
"And now you are asking how long he has to stay? Come on. First you have to say: 'OK, sorry that I have written that. Sorry.'
"Ask him, ask him. Maybe he said something about that. But not to me."
