Louis van Gaal admits interest in Kevin Strootman

Kevin Strootman, Louis van Gaal, Robin van Persie during the Dutch Eredivisie match between PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord at the Phillips stadium on April 13, 2014 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted his interest in AS Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman ahead of the pre-season friendly against the club on Saturday. The Dutch midfielder missed the World Cup squad due to a cruciate ligament injury suffered in a league match against Napoli that has kept him out of action since March this year.

Van Gaal though admitted that they’ll have to monitor his fitness on his road to recovery. In a question about interest in Strootman and Benatia.

"I never say anything about individual players," Van Gaal said. "It is my vision that we talk about a team and not individual players.

"But Strootman I can judge. He is injured for more than six months, though, and we have to wait and see how he comes back.

"It is not easy to say how he comes back from injury, but we will wait and see."

The 24-year-old midfielder had been on Manchester United’s radar even when he was playing for PSV Eindhoven before making the switch to Roma.

The manager rates the midfielder highly and would have played a huge role at the World Cup if not for the injury.

You can watch him talking about Strootman in the video below. Forward it to 13:20 to see how much he rates Strootman

The Manchester club have been heavily linked with Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal but have fallen off in their pursuit in recent times.

The former Netherlands’ coach also complained about the timing of the match with temperatures at Denver, Colorado expected to reach upwards of thirty degrees Centigrade.

"It is unbelievable that we play at two o'clock," Van Gaal said. "We will adapt to the situation and all the players will play for 45 minutes except Tom Cleverley and Tyler Blackett.

"For the players, it is very hard and I hope I can persuade the referee to have a drinks break as I did in Fortaleza (during the World Cup with Netherlands).

"We have a sports science department and it shall be done very well with the conditions, especially those players who will play 45 minutes."

Van Gaal also addressed Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s Luke Shaw comment saying he will discuss it personally with the Portuguese.

Louis van Gaal confirms his interest in Kevin Strootman, but want's to assess his fitness before any move. Could happen in January.

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) July 26, 2014