Louis van Gaal will not axe Manchester United’s young players despite his massive summer spending, claims Gianfranco Zola.
The Chelsea legend believes that fans should not be feeling the Blues as United’s academy graduates have a great chance to shine under the Dutchman.
The club have spent more than £150million on new players this transfer window – but the ex-Italy striker says Van Gaal won’t ignore youth.
He said: “Van Gaal is the type of manager if he has a good young player, he will play him.
“He is known for that. The young players will have to raise their standards but the quality of the players they have bought is high.”
Zola was speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester as part of panel discussion on the summer transfer window.
United were the biggest spenders in the Premier League, spending £157million which included a British transfer record £59.7million for Argentine winger Angel Di Maria.
Danny Blind, Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw joined to beef up a backline that lost stalwarts Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra.
Brilliant Basque midfielder Ander Herrera also joined from Athletic Bilbao, while United clinched the deadline-day capture of mega star Radamel Falcao to add to their wealth of options up front.
Zola was unsure whether such a level of spending will bring Man United success.
He said: “Only time will tell. Obviously the intentions are good, they know the competition in this country is big.
“They wanted to make sure they had the quality in the squad to face the challenge.
“Manchester United want to make sure they are competitive in the next few years.
“The potential is there but football can be affected by many things. I hope for Manchester it will go well.”
United’s transfer window business not only saw many new arrivals, but the departures of two academy graduates.
Tom Cleverley joined Aston Villa on loan while last night’s two-goal England striker Danny Welbeck joined Arsenal for £16million on deadline day.
The sales have sparked criticism, most notably, former Red Devils assistant manager Mike Phelan slamming the club for losing their identity.
Nonetheless, United’s first-team squad still boasts seven youth team graduates, the highest in the Premier League.
Image courtesy of Soccerex via YouTube with thanks
