Friday, 24th October, 2014
Louis van Gaal has revealed that he used his special relationship with former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes to tempt him to Old Trafford.
Valdes is currently recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury and Van Gaal has invited the Spaniard to train with Manchester United and make use of the club's facilities.
The custodian had been tipped to sign for Liverpool, but Manchester United are now thought to be in pole position to take advantage of Valdes' free agent status, should he prove his fitness.
And a good relationship with the goalkeeper, from their shared time at Barcelona, helped, Van Gaal admits.
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"Every human being is special because they all have identities. It's a principle of my philosophy that you have to respect the individual human being", he told a press conference today.
"He's special because I've worked with him and we've retained our relationship, which is not always the case.
"It is not a surprise because I have done it with lots of players. I have a relationship with a lot of them. I gave Ronald de Boer and Edgar Davids training possibilities in the past – Valdes is one of these players.
"Robin van Persie also. When he played for me in the Dutch squad, I allowed him to use our medical department to keep fit for the World Cup. I wasn't the manager of United at the time, so I have always done it", the Dutchman added.
It remains to be seen if Valdes does sign for Manchester United, but as a free agent he can move outside the transfer window system.
When asked about the possibility, Van Gaal would only reply: "United always have their eyes open."
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