“?Former Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Ajax manager Louis van Gaal has chosen to retire from football permanently, rather than return to coaching.
The Dutch legend hasn’t worked since being sacked by Manchester United in May, mere days after delivering the last trophy of his glittering career, and was expected to take a new job after a short break from football.
However, it seems with the time off and family problems after his daughter suddenly lost her husband, the 65-year-old has made the decision to stay away from management for good.
“I thought maybe I would stop (after United), then I thought it would be a sabbatical, but now I do not think I will return to coaching,” he said in comments published by De Telegraaf.
Van Gaal denied the rumours of a €50m three-year contract from the Middle East.
“They do not pay that kind of money, but in China they do. I could go there, but I’m still here,” he explained. “So much has happened in my family, you become a human being again with your nose to the facts.”
Having spent much of his playing career as a midfielder with Sparta Rotterdam, Van Gaal took his first coaching job as an assistant with AZ Alkmaar in 1986. He later moved on to an assistant’s job at Ajax and was handed the reins in 1991.
In Amsterdam, he was famed for promoting a glorious golden generation of home-grown players, including the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert, and led the club to a Champions League crown in 1995 as well another final the following season.
From there, Van Gaal moved on to Barcelona where he won back-to-back La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey. In 2000, he took charge of the Netherlands national team in a disastrous spell, and later returned to Barcelona before beginning a four-year stint back at AZ.
He led the unfancied side to Eredivisie glory in 2009 and was subsequently taken on by Bayern, guiding the club to the Budesliga title and a first Champions League final in nine years in his very first season in charge.
Van Gaal’s two-year reign at Old Trafford came after masterminding the Netherlands’ third place finish at the 2014 World Cup.
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