ManU "closed the final chapter" with Manager David Moyes by "reaching a settlement agreement" worth £7M ($11.8M), according to Roger Blitz of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The club and the League Managers’ Association "each put out statements saying the terms of the settlement had been agreed, without revealing the details." ManU said, “A settlement agreement is in the process of being finalized.” Moyes was sacked on Tuesday just 10 months into a 10-year contract. Moyes’ contract "is understood to have had a clause that curbed the size of his settlement if the club failed to qualify for the Champions League" (FT, 4/25). REUTERS' Mark Gleeson noted Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Saturday that Louis van Gaal and ManU "have agreed to the Dutch coach taking over as the club's manager next season once he has completed the World Cup in Brazil with the Netherlands." The Dutch daily said first talks between the parties "began a fortnight ago," before the sacking of Moyes, and that an agreement "was reached on Friday night" after talks with one of the Glazer brothers, Vice-Chair Ed Woodward, and a club lawyer at Van Gaal's holiday home in Portugal. Dutch broadcaster NOS quoted national team media officer Kees Jansma as saying on its website (nos.nl), "He told me that nothing definite has happened but there has been discussions. He expects to be able to say something not later than next week" (REUTERS, 4/26). SKY SPORTS reported ManU "denied a deal had been signed but, notably, did not dismiss the story or the claim an agreement had been reached." In a statement, the club said, "We have not signed a new manager." Van Gaal "had been the clear front-runner" to permanently replace Moyes. Sky News' Sports Correspondent Paul Kelso said, "The club have denied a deal is done, but not that they have spoken to (van Gaal)" (SKY, 4/26). In London, Blitz reported Woodward "cuts an unlikely footballing figure." Woodward "carries the burden of the club's now pressing expectations on his shoulders." Woodward's job is to find a new manager "who will arrest the club's recent decline and set it back on its familiar path of continued success." He is "realising the Glazers' long-held ambition of monetising United's vaunted status," but footballing knowhow is what Woodward "needs now" (FT, 4/25). In London, John Drayton reported Moyes "had to get away from it all." Moyes was pictured in Florida as he "tried to put a dismal week behind him in the sun." Moyes "was pictured landing in Miami and heading out for a meal" (DAILY MAIL, 4/27).
