LVG: I only wanted two years, United wanted three

Matt Stead

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has stressed he will remain at Old Trafford next season.

There is increasing speculation that former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will be in charge of the Red Devils when the 2016-17 campaign begins but Dutch boss Van Gaal has insisted: “Next year you will see me again.”

The 64-year-old told several national newspapers he fully intends to honour the three-year deal he agreed with United in 2014 and stated that he was going nowhere.

He said: “I knew it would be like this. That’s why they hired me and we spoke about it.

“We always knew that the process would take three years. I wanted to sign only for two years. The club wanted me to sign for three years, not me. I signed for three years – so next year you will see me again.

“Every week for six months I have been ‘sacked’ – and yet I am still here. But this has happened to me at every club I have been at.”

Van Gaal’s side still remain in contention to finish in the top four in the Premier League and will take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final later this month.

He added: “I am a realistic man and so I only speak about facts.

“I can’t say again ‘if, if’. The facts count and the fact is we are in the FA Cup final, the fact is we were in the Champions League, that we didn’t do last year.

“The fact is we went further in the Capital One Cup and so on.”