Van Gaal failed to sign Lewandowski for Manchester United

London, March 19: Former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has suggested that he tried to sign Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski during his reign at Old Trafford, however, were unable to get a move across the line.

The Dutch boss joined the Red Devils after David Moyes' disastrous reign and there were a lot of expectations from fans because of his previous achievements with clubs like Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern as well as his service to his national side in the 2014 World Cup.

The veteran boss inspired an underrated Netherlands side to a surprising third-place finish in the world cup and his stakes were high after the World Cup, that's when United snatched him away.

However, after two seasons at the club, the Dutch manager could only manage to finish in top four once and was able to win one silverware, the FA Cup. His slow football style brought a lot of criticism from the fans and often the fans vented their frustration calling his style as boring.

The lack of goal scoring feet from his attackers was believed to be the main reason for his slump. The Dutch coach failed to sign a single centre-forward during his two years at United although brought in attackers like Angel Di Maria, Memphis Depay and Anthony Martial in a £250million cash splash. But amongst them, Martial only developed to perform to some extent.

However, now as per the Dutch boss's revelation, during his time at United, he also tried to lure away one of the best strikers in the World, Robert Lewandowski, though, the player did not intend to move from Germany which closed the deal from any negotiations.

“I also wanted to train Lewandowski and wanted to bring him to Manchester United,” he told Bild. “He’s currently the best striker in the world.

“The price was not a problem for Manchester United, but Bayern did not want to let him go.”

Lewandowski has established himself as one of the World's best since his Dortmund days. The Polish striker helped the German underdog team to win to back to back titles whereas from there after his jump to Bayern has also been successful.

The former Lech Poznan forward scored 103 goals during his Dortmund days and till now has registered 142 goals for defending Bundesliga giants.

The 29-year-old has recently been linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena side after changing his agent, with the likes of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain said to hold an interest however it is expected that the Bavarian club will offer him a contract extension soon to fend off interest from other top sides.