Louis Van Gaal Comments on Manchester United Future Amid Jose Mourinho Rumours

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal remains adamant he will be at the football club next season despite persistent rumours linking Jose Mourinho with his position. 

According to Sam Wallace of the Sunday Telegraph, the Red Devils have approached Mourinho about becoming the club’s manager for the 2016-17 term.

However, Simon Mullock has reported in the Sunday Mirror that Van Gaal has been given “private assurances” about his future; the Dutchman’s own recent comments seem to reflect that.

“Next year you will see me again,” he told the press ahead of United’s clash with Leicester City on Sunday, per Mullock.

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Van Gaal continued, discussing the constant speculation about his job. “Every week for six months I have been sacked—and yet I am still here,” he said, per Mullock. “But this has happened to me at every club I have been at. I am doing the same job at United that I was hired to do at every club.”

However, according to Wallace, Mourinho wants to take the United job as soon as the current campaign is finished in order “to analyse his squad over the maximum amount of time, to recommend signings and be ready for when the players come back in late July to begin working with the squad.” It’s also said the Portuguese has “no concerns” about taking Van Gaal’s position.

James Robson of the Manchester Evening News thinks United are holding out until the end of the season before completing a deal for Mourinho:

Still, Van Gaal seems convinced he’s sticking around. And for many, should he steer United into the UEFA Champions League next season and to an FA Cup win, that'd be enough for him to keep his position.

The Dutchman has done some admirable things at the club. While the style of play has been dreary at times, he’s injected some youth into a squad that was stale when he took over. Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard are an attacking trio that could be in place for many years to come.

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Martial was deemed a panic buy when United made him the most expensive teenager in the game’s history last summer, but Van Gaal has helped mould his talents, playing him out wide despite criticism; ESPN’s Alex Shaw thinks he’s been a tremendous capture:

It’s rare a club can approach a manager like Mourinho as a free agent, though. The former Chelsea boss may have been axed by the Blues after an horrendous beginning to the season, but it was an anomalous campaign when looking at his overall record. Everywhere else he’s been the Portuguese has won titles.

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And while United are renowned for the way in which they give young players a chance, the club needs to ensure they’re winning silverware on a regular basis; that's what they've become synonymous with in the Premier League era. Mourinho, as his record shows, practically guarantees that.

The links to the Red Devils have been unrelenting, too, as FourFourTwo’s Seb Stafford-Bloor noted recently:

Van Gaal isn’t a manager to mince his words, and the fact he’s candidly claimed he’ll be in charge next season is likely a sincere statement. Nevertheless, at a football club as illustrious as United, it’d be no surprise if cogs were turning behind the scenes.

At the conclusion of this term it’ll be three seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, which is about the amount of time many anticipated United would need to get over his departure and challenge again. Mourinho, if he was to come in, would expedite that process.