Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has warned that the club cannot expect an immediate "miracle" from the club's new British record signing Angel Di Maria, as he admitted he will have torn up the squad he inherited by the time the transfer window closes on Tuesday morning (NZT).
"You have to work for the miracle and he knows that," the Dutchman said of Di Maria, when the 59.7 million ($119m) Argentine was presented as United's new No7 at Old Trafford. "I hope he shall give us good results but we cannot expect after two days' training that he is the miracle that I am already reading about."
Van Gaal told his players the group could be radically different by Tuesday morning and Daley Blind is expected to join on an 18 million deal.
"I said, maybe after this weekend we shall have another group because players shall go away and others shall come in."
He also indicated a fear that United are being quoted inflated prices. The likely fabric of the side is changing rapidly, with Aston Villa and Hull City both keen to take midfielder Tom Cleverley, whose struggle to make any headway is the backdrop to United's pursuit of a defensive midfielder. Cleverley had resolved to stay until out of contract at the end of the season but may be tempted by a fresh start.
