Louis van Gaal has revealed his desire to be the next Manchester United manager as anticipation builds that he will be appointed at Old Trafford next week.
There had been considerable speculation that the Netherlands coach would be confirmed as David Moyes's successor following Tuesday's 3-1 win against Hull City.
Several British media outlets reported last night that an announcement will be delayed until next week, with the Dutchman confirming his desire to be given the job last night.
“I would love the job,” he told BBC Sport at the start of a three-day Dutch World Cup training camp. “I hope that I shall be the one.
“You [the media] are thinking I’m the man but the most important thing is whether Manchester United are thinking that.”
Van Gaal, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach, is leaving his current role at the end of this summer’s tournament in Brazil and had apparently indicated that he wanted his future sorted before his first training camp began.
The 62-year-old Dutchman has managed his country before, during qualification for the 2002 World Cup, but left the post after a disastrous campaign, which saw them fail to make the tournament in Japan and South Korea.
With two further training camps of three days taking place in the next two weeks and the provisional Dutch squad to be announced next Tuesday, he made it clear he did not want speculation over his future to serve as a distraction.
“I have to focus on my job,” he said. “I am coach of the Dutch national team. I have waited a long time to be in a World Cup so that’s very important.
“This doesn’t affect me. I have always had offers. I know what the football world is and what it means.”
Tottenham Hotspur also have been linked with Van Gaal, who is regarded as one of the top coaches in Europe after winning domestic titles in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, the latter two as coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He also won the Uefa Champions League in 1995 with Ajax.
“There are more clubs interested. I have more options,” Van Gaal said at a Netherlands training session. “It is a process we’re in and everybody has to wait patiently on my choice and that of the clubs.”
United are ready to wait until the end of the Premier League season, which finishes on Sunday, before making an announcement on Moyes’s successor.
“There is no deal yet,” Van Gaal told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International. “There are papers that write I have already signed, there are even assistants named. It’s a pity it goes this way.”
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