Rumours: Manchester United to swoop for 'unhappy' Arjen Robben
Manchester United are back in the market for a winger and are believed to be keeping tabs on Arjen Robben’s situation at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Mirror reports.
Supposedly, Bayern’s star striker Robert Lewandowski is not content with the 31-year old’s playing style as he feels the Dutchman is too selfish for his liking. Instead, he prefers playing alongside the likes of Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa. The Dutch winger is not happy with the criticism and quite obviously wouldn’t like to play as a backup for Costa and Coman.
"I am a good coach, but not good enough to change Arjen Robben's mentality at 31 years old," Bayern’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola said on the matter.
Manchester United are reported to have been alert to the situation and Van Gaal is said to be delighted with the prospect of reuniting with Robben, whom he managed while in charge of the Dutch national team.
As for the Red Devils, since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo from Old Trafford, the hunt for a pacey wide winger has mostly been futile and has always been a point of concern for United’s managers. Nani and then Valencia were previously touted to take the baton from Ronaldo, however, they never truly reached the level that was expected from them.
David Moyes reportedly tried to sign Gareth Bale, only for Real Madrid to lure him away from under his nose. Last season, the arrival of Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid was seen by many as the end of a long and tedious search for a prolific winger, but the Argentine failed to adapt to the League and the country before eventually leaving for Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
We need speed, creativity on the wings: LVG
Meanwhile, Adnan Januzaj showed glimpses of his abilities but after LVG’s arrival, he could not capitalise on his chances and ultimately was loaned out to Borussia Dortmund. Memphis’ performances have not been up to the mark as well and Juan Mata who is regularly being used on the right flank is not an out and out winger.
The Dutch boss of United himself agrees to the fact that the club is missing out on some trickery and speed on the flanks.
“I have said already in my first year many times we need speed and creativity on the wings. You have seen that now we play with Jesse Lingard and he is not the most speedy winger in the world and (Juan) Mata is also not the most speedy winger in the world. So first we must first address that problem,” LVG said after United’s 2-0 win over West Brom.
Robben perfectly fits Van Gaal’s desire of a tried and tested player, however, the age factor is the only known hindrance in a possible deal.
Robben was once very close to joining United in 2004, but PSV’s asking price put them off and the winger joined Chelsea instead.