Manchester United may already be some way towards replacing David Moyes, after chief executive Ed Woodward told the club’s scouting staff who their transfer priorities will be this summer.
Woodward went straight from dismissing Moyes to his discussion with scouting staff early yesterday, as Louis van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti emerged as the front runners for a club now looking for a man with the depth of experience that Moyes lacked.
It is understood the club believe Van Gaal’s World Cup duties with Holland need not impede them if he were to be signed up quickly, giving them three weeks of his undivided attention before the Dutch national team’s first pre-tournament training camp begins on May 7.
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Whether Moyes’s successor is Van Gaal or Real Madrid manager Ancelotti, whom Sir Alex Ferguson considered before recommending Moyes, the new man is likely to want a say on the three or four new recruits United will bring in.
Van Gaal left Holland for his Algarve holiday home yesterday, after his usual Tuesday meeting with the Dutch coaching staff. He is known to covet the idea of a move to the Premier League but he has refused to discuss his intentions.
