An alternate Manchester United XI with the £250 Million spent by Louis van Gaal

Manchester United, over the last two seasons, have paid astronomical transfer fees to acquire players for the club. The latest addition of Anthony Martial on transfer deadline day brings the total spend of the club to mind-boggling £250 Million since the Dutch veteran manager took over the English giants.While some of the signings – Daley Blind, Morgan Schneiderlin, Luke Shaw – find themselves in the starting line-up regularly, the failures of Angel Di Maria and Falcao, both of whom came on huge salaries (and English record transfer fee in case of Di Maria) have made some fans uneasy about Manchester United’s transfer approach.All around the footballing world, money has been splashed out for players over the past couple of years, so can we make an entire team of XI from the £250 Million spent by Louis Van Gaal?Here’s a complete alternate XI that Louis van Gaal could have put together for a similar price.All transfer fees have either been picked up from Transfermarkt.com or through estimated prices mentioned on multiple newspapers.

#1 Keylor Navas

Transfer Fees Paid – £7.3 Million

An innocent pawn in what was easily one of the most dramatic transfer sagas in football history, Keylor Navas still finds himself in Real Madrid colours – at least for the foreseeable future. Signed in August 2014 from Levante after a brilliant World Cup campaign with Costa Rica, Navas found his opportunities limited during his first season at Madrid.

This season, however, he appears to be the clear No.1 for his club, playing both La Liga games without conceding a single goal.

Manchester United could’ve signed Navas from Levante last season, before he joined Real Madrid, or could’ve had him for free, as part of the David De Gea deal this season. As things stand, Madrid find themselves with a very capable No.1 and the English club are left with a player who clearly had his heart set at a move to Real Madrid.

Other players in the same price range – Petr Cech, Claudio Bravo, Jan Oblak

#2 Nathaniel Clyne

Transfer Fees Paid – £13.3 Million

Everything pointed towards Clyne, the England international, coming to Old Trafford during this summer, until he didn’t, instead moving to rivals, Liverpool. Clyne has played every minute of the Premier League season with Liverpool so far, clearly Brendan Rodger’s first-choice right-back.

Manchester United’s right-back position needed fixing at the start of this season; Rafael found himself on the periphery of the manager’s thoughts while Valencia was a make-shift full-back. Out of nowhere, Manchester United signed Italian right-back, Matteo Darmian, for a very similar transfer fee as that of Clyne and has instantly fit into the side, making the right-back slot his own. He has been one of Manchester United’s best players in the opening month of the Premier League.

#3 Nicolas Otamendi

Transfer Fees Paid – £32.5 Million

Otamendi was linked to Manchester United since before he signed for his previous club, Valencia, while he was still playing in the Portuguese league with FC Porto. At the start of this season, he was linked heavily to Manchester United, some claiming that a deal was already done, but Otamendi now finds himself playing for Manchester City, United’s local rivals, in one of the bigger deals made this summer.

Manchester United fans have been shouting out for an experienced or quality centre-back to fill the hole left behind by the pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand a couple of seasons ago. However, the rumours about Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos haven’t materialized and it’s the Blind-Smalling pairing that the fans will have to get used to until, atleast, January.

#4 Bruno Martins Indi

Transfer Fees Paid – £6 Million

With the Manchester United defence unsure and uncertain, the rumour mill linked Martins Indi to the club, after impressing for Porto last season. Indi played under Van Gaal when he was the Dutch national team manager, and has featured for every major Netherlands youth side, so the relationship between the two was already strong; the reports wrote themselves.

No official story broke and Martins Indi still features regularly for the 27-time Portuguese champions; United had also just spent around £27.5 Million combined on Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind.

With doubts raised about the Manchester United defence almost every week even this season, this will not be the last time the club will be linked to the Dutch central defender. It’ll be interesting to see if Louis Van Gaal does go for the strong defender or any other defender in January or if the current defensive lot is enough for the remainder of the season.

#5 Stefan de Vrij

Transfer Fees Paid – £4.75 Million

After impressing in the 32 starts in 34 Eredivisie games for Feyenoord in the 2013/14 season, it was surprising that no big club – apart from Lazio – tried signing the versatile defender, who can play in any position in the back-line before the 2014/15 season.

With the signing of Luke Shaw for a sum nearly 6 times that of de Vrij, Manchester United may have the left-back position taken care of for years to come, but does the player justify the price-tag or would a cheaper de Vrij be equally capable of being one part of United’s defensive problems?

#6 Arturo Vidal

Transfer Fees Paid – £27.1 Million

Arturo Vidal is one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world right now. The 2014/15 season with Juventus – in his 45 appearances, along with his 8 goals – Vidal demolished opposition attacks with his tackling ability, determination and anticipation. With the support of Paul Pogba, Vidal quickly became one of the most complete midfielders in the game. As good as he was blocking opposition, in the Champions League, he played in a more attacking position showing his all-round capability.

Before the start of this season, Vidal made the move to Bayern Munich, costing just as much as Ander Herrera had cost Manchester United the previous season. The English club, which had been criticized for having too few quality centre midfielders since the end of the Ferguson era has bought Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger to strengthen their midfield.

#7 Cesc Fabregas

Transfer Fees Paid – £27 Million

When Fabregas left Arsenal for his boyhood club and European giants, Barcelona, he broke a lot of hearts in London. When he returned to Chelsea – one of Arsenal’s biggest rivals – the fans’ hearts shattered further. Manchester United were linked with Fabregas from the get-go; he wasn’t going to remain at Barcelona, that was a given and the English club needed the creativity and playmaking ability of the Spaniard.

Instead, Fabregas went to Chelsea and helped them lift the Premier League title.

Other players In the same price range: Mateo Kovacic, Toni Kroos, Geoffrey Kondogbia.

#8 Antoine Griezmann

Transfer Fees Paid – £22 Million

Griezmann is becoming for Atletico Madrid what Messi is to Barcelona and Ronaldo is to Real Madrid – the key piece of the puzzle. The French forward is lethal in front of goal and sure to get even better with experience, being only 24 years of age.

Before he was the front man for Atletico, Griezmann was one of the up-and-comers at Real Sociedad. During Van Gaal’s management at Old Trafford, the club has spent around £75 million on two wingers – Angel Di Maria and Memphis Depay. While the former has departed the club for a loss, the latter is yet to fully take on the responsibility of being Manchester United’s No. 7. Whether the signing of Griezmann directly from Sociedad would’ve had any impact on Manchester United’s 4th position last year is difficult to estimate, but you would rather have a man of his quality in your team than against you.

#9 James Rodriguez

Transfer Fees Paid – £63 million

One of the most expensive players in football, James Rodriguez joined Real Madrid after a great World Cup. It is unlikely that James – as he is known affectionately to his fans – would’ve joined the English club as they did not have Champions League to offer when Van Gaal took over from David Moyes.

However, if you look at the career path of James since his big money transfer to Real Madrid, and the similar transfer fee made by Manchester United for Angel Di Maria, it is obvious which transfer was more successful. At the young age of 24, in the 31 La Liga games James Rodriguez has featured in, he’s scored 15 goals and assisted 14 of them – and is also one of Madrid’s most important players.

#10 Douglas Costa

Transfer Fees Paid – £22 Million

Another 24 year old, Douglas Costa spent his formative playing days as a star in Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk. Making his international debut for Brazil in 2014, Costa signed for German champions and European giants, Bayern Munich.

While Manchester United have played playmaker, Juan Mata, on the right-wing, the addition of Costa – the same price as that of Memphis – could’ve added the pace and unpredictability they need in the final third. If the first four league games are any indication, it is this lack of speed and trickery on the right-wing that is making it difficult for United to open teams up.

Costa has been a revelation for Bayern this season, assisting on 4 occasions already in his first three games and scoring his first goal as well. With Ribery and Robben winding up their careers, Costa may be the one to replace either of them.

Other players In the same price range: Pedro

#11 Diego Costa

Transfer Fees Paid – £32 Million

Chelsea’s prolific striker was Atletico’s prolific striker in the season David Moyes was at the helm at Old Trafford. When Louis Van Gaal took over, Costa came to the Premier League, to Chelsea for a substantial fee – but as a striker that guaranteed goals. While Manchester United, themselves, had the services of England captain, Wayne Rooney, and Robin Van Persie, from Van Gaal’s Dutch line-up, it was evident Manchester United needed someone better up front.

In the 26 league appearances made by Costa in 2014/15, he scored 20 goals. For Manchester United, Robin Van Persie scored 10 in 27 league appearances, while Rooney scored 12 in 33 appearances.

Still, even in the 2015/16 season, Manchester United are short on strikers, with Wayne Rooney and new, £36 million man Anthony Martial, the only options available to Van Gaal.

Other players In the same price range: Jackson Martinez, Carlos Bacca