Louis van Gaal Reveals How Close He Was to Bringing Robert Lewandowski to Old Trafford

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed that he attempted to sign Bayern Munich star striker Robert Lewandowski during his time at Old Trafford. 

In a reveal-all interview with German publication SportBild, Van Gaal spoke of his admiration of the Polish forward as well as his sometimes difficult relationship with his former Man United players. 

Van Gaal arrived in Manchester as the replacement for David Moyes in the summer of 2014. During his two year tenure at the club, the Dutchman signed the likes of Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, and Angel Di Maria. 

But one player he failed to bring in was perennial goalscorer Robert Lewandowski, admitting: "He is currently the best striker in the world. I also wanted to train Lewandowski and wanted to bring him to Manchester United."

"The price was not a problem for Manchester United, but Bayern did not want to let him go."

Lewandowski arrived at Bayern in the same summer that van Gaal moved to Manchester. The Poland international had already signed a pre-contractual agreement with Bayern after deciding to leave Borussia Dortmund. 

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Robert Lewandowski has since gone on to become Bayern Munich's highest scoring foreign player in history. However, the 29-year-old could be on the move again after it was reported that he has agreed to a summer move to Real Madrid. 

The former United boss also revealed that the he did not always get along with his players while at the club. Van Gaal used to send e-mails to his players to discuss their progress, but often these messages would go unread by the players. 

"That's true, too," He added. "But this testifies to their unprofessionalism and I have then addressed them. I already did that with the emails at Bayern. My conviction is that a full professional also wants to live professionally. Like Arjen Robben. He read the emails."