Now, Memphis arrived at United from PSV Eindhoven for a fee of £25m, after impressing in the Dutch Eredivisie.
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Van Gaal said that Depay, who was an unused subsitute in United’s 3-0 win over Everton at the weekend, has “a lot of quality” but is not yet fitting in with the team’s “philosophy”.
The 22-year-old defender, who had a hard debut season at Old Trafford, had been the 20-time English champions’ best player until the injury wrecked his 2015/16 campaign. The manager also claimed that he has no way of knowing if a player can adapt to the team philosophy before completing the transfer.
“Some players can not adapt to the team philosophy”, Van Gaal told reporters.
“You cannot say that now he can go”, Van Gaal added. Di Maria was sold to Paris Saint-Germain this summer, while Falcao’s loan from Monaco ended and United decided against making his move permanent. “But now he is fantastic”, Van Gaal said, as quoted by the Daily Mail. You have to see that.
He would not publicly disclose which areas of Depay’s game he felt required improvement, however. You have to learn from it and improve.
“You are always doubting him”, the United manager said in his post-match press conference. “We have to give him time”.
“I am also happy when Herrera is scoring and (Anthony) Martial is scoring”.
The news of Howard Kendall’s death prior to kick-off led to a subdued atmosphere inside Goodison Park and the current crop of Everton players were unable to replicate the kind of performances seen under the club’s greatest manager.
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However, Van Gaal said the midfielder could yet lose his place if he does not feel he is well suited to United’s opponents. Then we have to play against our competitor, City. “I don’t see all the players that my colleague can select, so I don’t have any opinion”. Rooney missed England’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania, but has resumed training and Van Gaal confirmed he will feature “if I select him”.
