Louis van Gaal Would Love to Bring Arjen Robben to Manchester United, Says Former Coach

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal would love to bring Arjen Robben with him to Old Trafford, according to former coach Rene Meulensteen.

Bayern Munich star Robben has enjoyed a scintillating campaign in Brazil, scoring three times for Netherlands before their World Cup ambitions were halted by Argentina.

Van Gaal will officially begin duties at United on Monday following his side's third place play-off with hosts Brazil on Saturday and a number of players in his Dutch squad have been linked with joining him in Manchester, including the versatile Daley Blind and defender Stefan de Vrij.

But with Robben still held in extremely high regard at the Allianz Arena, United are unlikely to be successful in an attempt to lure him back to the Premier League, despite van Gaal being keen on a reunion, according to Meulensteen.

"I'm sure van Gaal would love to take Arjen Robben to Manchester United," Meulensteen, who left United following the appointment of David Moyes last summer, told talkSPORT. "That's not a surprise."

United were intensely linked with bringing Robben to the Premier League at the first time of asking in 2004 only for the winger to join Chelsea at the beginning of the Roman Abramovich era. He left for Real Madrid in 2007 but waited until his arrival in Germany in 2009 before truly beginning to make his mark on European football.

Meulensteen, who was one of Sir Alex Ferguson's most trusted lieutenants before the Scot retired last year, says United were interested in Robben when it became clear he time at the Bernabeu was coming to an end.

"When I was at Manchester United, we looked at that possibility for a few years, but then he signed for Bayern Munich," he added. "He's been happy ever since and had a lot of success there."