Van Gaal made no offer to quit Man Utd: club sources

The Red Devils have frequently been linked with Banega with Louis van Gaal finally prepared to make a formal approach.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper earlier reported that the club’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, had persuaded the Dutchman to stay following the 1-0 defeat which resulted in fans booing the team and Van Gaal off the pitch.

And Van Gaal was seen arriving at United’s Carrington complex to take training.

Woodward, meanwhile, has club commitments in London rather than north-west England.

They are five points off the Premier League’s top four in fifth place, 10 points behind leaders Leicester, and have won only three of their last 13 matches in all competitions, a sequence which has included seeing them exit the Champions League.

Bale in action for Real Madrid.

Barnett’s response will come as a bitter disappointment to United’s legion of fans, who are hugely dissatisfied with United’s disappointing showings under van Gaal of late and would dearly love their club to pull a transfer rabbit of the hat and deliver a player of Bale’s class to galvanise the side.

United are reluctant to get into a public battle for Guardiola, given the widely held view the 45-year-old has already made a decision to join Manchester City when his Bayern Munich contract expires in the summer.

Mourinho has been out of the game since Chelsea sacked him in December a year ago after a string of poor performances.

It would be a surprise if the most decorated player in the club’s history did not covet the manager’s job but whether he would accept a short-term appointment without some guarantee of his future status is less certain.