Louis van Gaal Admits Interest in Signing Roma's Kevin Strootman

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted his interest in signing Kevin Strootman from Italian club AS Roma.

According to the Daily Mail, the Dutchman has hinted his keenness in signing his compatriot and will look to pair him with Ander Herrera at the heart of the United midfield.

The 24-year-old midfielder is currently recovering from a ligament injury he suffered in March, and is presently with the Serie A side on their pre-season tour of the USA, where they will play United in a friendly on Saturday. The former PSV midfielder will not take part in the game as he is still not fully fit.

Van Gaal knows the midfielder from his days as the Netherlands boss and has previously shown interest in bringing the midfielder to Old Trafford. But first, he wants to make sure the Roma midfielder recovers fully from his injury before making any decisions on a transfer.

"I never usually say anything about individual players. It is my vision that we talk about a team and not individual players," van Gaal said, as quoted in the Daily Mail.

"But Strootman I can judge. He is injured for more than six months. We have to wait and see how he comes back. It is not easy to say how he comes back from injury, but we will wait and see," he added.

However, Roma boss Rudi Garcia, who is keen to retain the player, has ruled out a switch to Manchester during this summer transfer window. He knows that the final decision is of the player's, but believes that Strootman is not looking to leave the Serie A club this year.

"Strootman is a Roma player. He will be a Roma player this year. There is no doubt about that," Garcia said, as quoted in the Daily Mail.

"Only he can say whether he wants to stay but it was never an issue for him to go to another club. There is no question of it," the former Lille manager added.