According to The Guardian, Holland manager Louis van Gaal wants to finalize his deal to manage Manchester United by the end of the week.
Terms have yet to be agreed between the 62-year-old and last year’s Premier League champions but advisers of van Gaal claim a deal is in the works with the manager eager to get his future sorted before official World Cup preparations begin on May 7th.
With signs pointing to van Gaal as the permanent replacement for David Moyes, questions surround the future of interim player-manager Ryan Giggs. The Welshman looked every bit the part in Saturday’s 4-0 drubbing of Norwich City convincing most United supporters and neutrals alike that the 40-year-old deserved a shot at becoming permanent successor.
‘What if he wins out United’s final matches – surely they’d have to at least consider him, right?’ could be heard on repeat throughout bars across the globe.
Home matches against Sunderland and Hull City and an away fixture at Southampton are what remains for Giggs to convince United’s board he’s their man for the future. But despite odds on Giggs becoming United’s next manager having dropped from 14-1 to 7-2 after Saturday’s win and having the support of Sir Alex Ferguson – who reportedly told a charity lunch last week that United should give him the permanent job – it appears that van Gaal’s vast experience will ultimately trump.
Reports also have another Dutchman, Patrick Kluivert, as likely to join van Gaal at United, although not as his No. 2. That spot would feel a natural fit for Giggs except that somehow amidst all this commotion we seem to have forgotten that Giggs is still a player and may not yet be ready to hang up the boots.
“I think that’s another conversation as well,” Giggs said. “I don’t know what I’m doing about playing, I don’t know what’s going to happen, so again it’s something that I’ll think about and decide with the appropriate people after the season.”
