ManU Pledges To Back Manager Louis Van Gaal By Spending $156M Next Summer

ManU is "prepared to spend" another £100M ($156M) next summer as it continues the "overhaul which they believe is needed to take them back to the top of British football," according to Ian Herbert of the London INDEPENDENT. ManU's readiness to spend "underlines the faith the club" has in Manager Louis Van Gaal, "despite his rocky start." The stabilization of ManU -- which has established itself "in the Premier League top four ahead of Monday's trip to third-placed Southampton -- in a season when Van Gaal has given debuts to seven academy graduates is seen as vindication of the decision to turn to him in the summer." The club still has to decide "whether to play an overseas friendly next month to compensate for the lack of European football." Van Gaal will "drive that decision." Van Gaal's "disinclination to play against any lesser side suggests that a warm-weather training camp similar to the Doha and Dubai trips Ferguson and Moyes led is more likely" (INDEPENDENT, 12/5).