Manchester United left for a pre-season tour of America with almost £80million of new players on board.
|||Manchester United left for a pre-season tour of America with almost £80million of new players on board but uncertainty still lingers over the futures of David de Gea and Angel di Maria.
United managed to push through medicals for Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin in time for the two midfield players to board their plane for Seattle yesterday afternoon.
Manager Louis van Gaal believes that in the veteran German Schweinsteiger, signed for £15m, he has the man to finally bring some authority to United’s midfield. France international Schneiderlin, meanwhile, has arrived from Southampton for £24m as one of the most highly rated midfielders in Europe.
With United having already invested in Holland winger Memphis Depay and Italy full back Matteo Darmian, Van Gaal’s squad is looking much deeper than it did when he arrived at the club a year ago.
Still, though, there is confusion over goalkeeper De Gea and the club’s record signing Di Maria.
De Gea is with the squad in America — where they will play four games — and has yet to be the subject of a bid from suitors Real Madrid. For reasons so far unexplained, his deputy Victor Valdes is not with the squad, meaning that De Gea is likely to play plenty of minutes on tour.
Di Maria, meanwhile, is expected to be the subject of a bid from Paris Saint-Germain in the coming days as the French team look to take advantage of his unhappiness in England. It is understood that the 27-year-old and his wife have not settled and are keen to move.
Ideally, Di Maria would like to return to Real Madrid but whether he will be offered that option from a club that sold him only a year ago remains questionable.
Against this background, Van Gaal is continuing his search for a new centre forward and another central defender. Van Gaal has a liking for Robert Lewandowski at Bayern but is aware of how difficult that deal would be, given that he has just signed one of the German club’s star players.
United chief executive Ed Woodward certainly expects to remain busy during the remainder of a transfer window that does not close until the end of August. Woodward has flown to America with United but is expecting to return to the UK to continue business once the club leave Seattle and head to San Jose this weekend.
Certainly Van Gaal is happy that the club has managed to conduct a large proportion of business so early. Last summer United were still chasing players after the season had started — something he had expressly asked not to be the case this time around.
Speaking of his two latest signings, Van Gaal said yesterday: ‘There is no doubting Bastian’s talent and his ability to control games. He brings a wealth of experience and is an excellent addition to our squad. His record speaks for itself; he has won every honour at club level and was a major part of the successful Germany World Cup-winning team last summer.
‘Bastian is the ultimate professional and of course, no stranger to me. I worked with him during my time at Bayern Munich and I am truly delighted he is joining Manchester United.
‘Morgan is a very talented player with great energy and ability. His skills will complement the players that we already have and I am very pleased that we have been able to complete this deal before the tour.
‘That training camp will be very important in our preparations for the new season and gives Morgan and the other players a chance to show our fans what they can achieve together.’
Sportsmail revealed United’s interest in Schweinsteiger in mid-May. Despite his relatively mature age, the 30-year-old has been given a three-year contract in the hope that he can provide United’s midfield with the authority it needs.
Schneiderlin, meanwhile, abandoned plans to sign for Arsenal once he learned of United’s interest. The 25-year-old said: ‘Once I learned that United were interested in signing me, it was a very easy decision to make.
‘I have enjoyed seven very happy years with Southampton and it’s a club that will always be in my heart. But the chance to be part of this squad to help this great club be successful was too good to miss.
‘I know what Manchester United means to fans all over the world and I’m looking forward to experiencing that.’ – Daily Mail
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