Saturday, 7th June, 2014
Incoming Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted his admiration for Arturo Vidal, explaining he tried to buy the Chilean when he was in charge at Bayern Munich.
The Bavarians pushed hard to snap up Vidal when Van Gaal was in the manager's chair, but ultimately saw Juventus succeed in buying the all-action midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen.
And, looking ahead to Holland's World Cup group game against Chile, Van Gaal lifted the lid on his Vidal admiration.
"I wanted to buy Vidal when I was coach at Bayern Munich", the 62-year-old admitted to NUsport.
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"Vidal at that point played for Bayer Leverkusen, but he then went to Juventus."
Van Gaal's new club, Manchester United, who he will join after the World Cup, have been linked with Vidal as they seek to bolster their midfield options.
It remains to be seen whether Vidal will join Van Gaal at Old Trafford, but in the more immediate term the Dutchman must plot how to keep Chile quiet.
"Chile have a very good team that are always attacking and playing with pressure", he conceded.
"They have very dangerous players, more than say, Ecuador, who we played in a friendly."
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