Sir Alex Ferguson Backs Louis van Gaal's Decision to Spend Heavily in Summer

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Louis van Gaal for overhauling Red Devils' squad in the summer transfer window.

The 20-times English champions spent over £150m in signing Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao. The latter joined United on a season-long loan from AS Monaco.

However, the Dutchman has sanctioned the sale of several players and the list includes the likes of Danny Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa, Alexander Buttner and Patrice Evra. Tom Cleverley, Wilfried Zaha and Luis Nani were allowed to leave on a season-long loan.

In addition to this, central defending duo Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand left the club on a free transfer, while Ryan Giggs retired as a player and has taken the coaching role. The Welshman is Van Gaal's assistant at Old Trafford.

United's legendary manager was speaking to MUTV in a programme called Sir Alex: Life After Management, which will be aired on Monday. This is Ferguson's first public statement after the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss was appointed as David Moyes' successor.

"Louis van Gaal has made a lot of changes and, thinking about that, actually maybe he's doing the right thing, to clear the decks and build his own team. Because he's got the experience and coaching ability to do that," Ferguson explained.

Meanwhile, England U21 coach Gareth Southgate believes Shaw's inclusion in the Young Lions' squad will help the young defender. The former Southampton left-back was replaced in the second half during United's 2-1 victory over Everton.

Van Gaal had earlier confirmed that the 19-year-old was replaced as a precaution and had eased any injury concerns. Shaw will be part of the England U21 squad to take on Croatia in the European Champions qualifier on Friday.

"It's great for us that Shaw is here. From his club's perspective, playing two matches would be good and I know that Louis van Gaal was very positive about it," Southgate said.

"Also, as Louis was a manager of a national team and has spoken so much about the importance of the Under-21s for Holland, we didn't think we were going to have an issue from the club."

"I just know from the conversation about Luke with Roy Hodgson that he was very positive about him coming and playing matches for us, first and foremost," he added.