Louis van Gaal will take Manchester United back to top says Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has backed Louis van Gaal to take Manchester United back to top again next season.

The Red Devils suffered a disappointing season under David Moyes, where they finished seventh during the 2013/14 season. They sacked the former Everton boss and replaced him with the Dutchman last summer.

Van Gaal helped United finish in the top four and has already helped the club strengthen the squad in the ongoing summer transfer window by signing Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Barcelona will take on United in the pre-season fixture on 25 July. Van Gaal has managed the Catalan club on two occasions and Bartomeu believes the Premier League giants will be successful in the future.

"We know their coach, Louis van Gaal, very well. He was also coach of our team and we know how strong, intelligent and clever he is, how he gets the best that is possible from his players, and United are going to be one of the top clubs this year, I'm sure," Bartomeu said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"We know Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world. United is a club that has always been very successful and they will be successful in the future, because they are doing a nice project.

The Barcelona president also went to hail Van Gaal's ability to promote players from the academy to the first team. During his spell at Camp Nou, he gave chances to Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta, who enjoyed a successful spell with the treble winners.

"Yes, it's a good move [for United to have Van Gaal]. We know him from when he was at Barcelona and you have to remember that one of our best players of the past 15 years, Xavi, was brought through by Van Gaal," the Spanish club's president explained.

"He put Xavi, Carles Puyol and others into the first team. Van Gaal did something very good by having a lot of confidence in our young players, the youth players of our academy, La Masia."

"He used them a lot and he was right because, for the last 12 or 15 years, those players have been the best players in our team," Bartomeu concluded.