Louis van Gaal Contract: Latest News, Rumours on Manchester United Negotiations

Louis van Gaal is keen to extend his tenure as Manchester United boss. The Dutchman is rumoured to be seeking a new contract to take him past 2017.

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Van Gaal Set for Extension Talks

Sunday, Sept. 13

Van Gaal will wait until the new year to discuss terms on extending his contract at Old Trafford. That's according to Daily Star Sunday reporter Paul Hetherington.

He suggested the 64-year-old Van Gaal is keen to put off thoughts of retirement, claiming: "The £6 million-a-year Dutchman is so happy at Old Trafford that it is understood he’d be willing to discuss a new deal."

This is somewhat surprising after Van Gaal recently seemed to point to assistant Ryan Giggs as his successor, per James Ducker of the Times.

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The news he wants to stay longer also rates as a surprise thanks to what's been a fairly rough few weeks for Van Gaal. He has reportedly been questioned by current players about his training methods, per Sky Sports.

Even ex-United players haven't been shy about expressing criticism of the Dutchman's time in charge. Former Red Devils centre-back Rio Ferdinand, now BT Sport pundit, recently chided both Van Gaal's style of play and the amount of money he's spent since taking over, according to the Guardian's David Hytner:

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Man United supporters have to go away and re-educate themselves on how to watch Man United. Don’t go there expecting to see free-flowing, attacking, gung-ho football. ...

Vidic and I were saying: ‘If they’d have spent £50 million when we were there, we’d have won how much more?’ If you’d got somebody at that time who was worth that.

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Ferdinand may be calling for a return to so-called United values. But it's worth noting Van Gaal inherited a mess when he took over from David Moyes in 2014. Moyes had made a bad situation worse after Sir Alex Ferguson let his squad age in too many key areas.

For all the criticism, Van Gaal's United are still second in the Premier League. If he improves on last season's fourth-place finish and even snags some silverware, Van Gaal's Old Trafford rebuild will appear on track and even merit the experienced manager sticking around a little longer.