Manchester United has targeted Kevin Strootman on a £30 million transfer in January.
The Dutchman is recovering from a serious knee injury that has ruled him out of Van Gaal’s Holland squad for the World Cup in Brazil, with the 24-year-old not expected to play again until the autumn.
While Strootman is content at Roma and has four years left on the contract he signed last summer, he is aware of Van Gaal’s interest, with the manager having selected him regularly for the national squad. However, Strootman’s agent, Chiel Dekker, insisted that only if Roma were minded to sell would the transfer occur.
“He won’t be back playing until autumn – that’s the time schedule at the moment,” Dekker told the Guardian. “He is of interest to Louis van Gaal but not related to Manchester United at this point.”