Manchester United are reportedly looking to beat Chelsea to the signature of Barcelona defender Gerard Pique with a £15 million bid.
United boss Louis van Gaal faced a lot of problems with defensive injury this season, with most of his defenders spending some time on the sidelines. This forced him to bring in some inexperienced academy players --Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair – to the first team.
Although most of his injured players have returned, the Dutchman is not ready to take chances, and due to this reason the former Bayern Munich boss is reportedly still looking to sign a new defender in the winter transfer window.
Despite the Red Devils being linked to a number of defenders including Mats Hummels, Diego Godin, Miranda, Ron Vlaar and Raphael Varane, van Gaal is reportedly keen on landing Barcelona's Pique, with there being reports of the Dutchman already preparing a £15 million bid to bring the Spaniard back to Old Trafford, according to the Sunday Express.
Chelsea are also believed to be interested in the 27-year-old centre-back, but United are confident of beating the Premier League leaders to Pique's signature with a better offer.
Pique, who is a product of Barcelona's academy, moved to Old Trafford in 2004 before moving back to the Nou Camp in 2005 after failing to break into Manchester United's first team.
Meanwhile, van Gaal feels that Ramadel Falcao played well at Queen Park Rangers despite the Colombian missing a number of chances at Loftus Road.
The 28-year-old striker, who was dropped during United's defeat to Southampton, was recalled to the first team against the Hoops.
Although he showed good energy and enthusiasm against Harry Redknapp's men, he failed to score as he was denied two brilliant chances by goalkeeper Rob Green.
Still van Gaal insists that he was satisfied by Falcao's overall attitude and performance on Saturday.
"It is not so important what I find, I think, because he [Falcao] wants to score goals," the Dutchman explained in his post-match press conference in West London. "For me, I have to judge how he has played and scoring goals is an important aspect of a striker, I know."
"But for me it is also important if he is an attacking point and that he can play further with a striker; that we are coming in the third or fourth phase of our attack and he did it well."
