Werder Bremen rumours: Bundesliga club in the race to sign Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal is said to be close to returning to management as Bundesliga side Werder Bremen are emerging as one of the club's interested in bringing the Dutchman according to German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt. Van Gaal has been out of work since May with his last game yielding a trophy for Manchester United but was sacked with a year remaining on his contract. He won the FA Cup during his time at the Premier League club but was heavily criticised by the fans and media.
Bremen are at the bottom of the table in Bundesliga as they have lost all of their four league games and are also out of the DFB Pokal. Bremen sacked their manager Viktor Skripnik last week and have reportedly vetoed on bringing the 65-year-old for the remainder of the season. Interim manager Alexander Nouri was also unable to stop this bad run as Bremen last weekend too, with a 2-1 loss to Mainz.
Amidst all these rumours, the club's sporting director, Frank Baumann was quoted saying, "I won't comment on any names, no matter how crazy the rumours that. We are not hard-pressed for time. That's what our performance against Mainz showed." He confirmed that Nouri will return to managing the U23 side once a replacement is found for Skripnik with reports emerging that Bremen will appoint the Dutchman before the game against Wolfsburg next weekend.
Along with Van Gaal, Bremen are also said to be looking at other possible options in USA assistant coach, Andreas Herzog along with the former Hoffenheim manager, Markus Gisdol. Van Gaal is the most experienced option available for Bremen and he has a prior management experience in Germany. The Dutchman was the manager of Bayern Munich and lifted the Bundesliga title in 2010.
Sacking by Manchester United
The 65-year-old was unceremoniously sacked by Manchester United as a fifth place finish was deemed unacceptable by the United board and was replaced by his former assistant, Jose Mourinho.
Also read: 5 lowest points of Louis van Gaal's Manchester United reign
Van Gaal was also in talks with the Belgium national team last month as they sacked Marc Wilmots after a disappointing Euro 2016 campaign. Belgium had a choice between the Dutchman and Roberto Martinez but the Red Devils went with the former Everton boss. The Dutchman could be a good signing for Bremen as they look to avoid the drop from the top flight.
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