Van Gaal reveals showdown talks with Rooney & Carrick

Louis van Gaal has confirmed that Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick have voiced their concerns about the lack of morale in the Manchester United dressing room.

Reports surfaced earlier in the week that the pair were unhappy with the former Barcelona boss' coaching methods and had approached him regarding the issue.

And though Van Gaal played down the rumours the squad was unhappy with his own training plans but admitted he had held talks with his captain and vice-captain.

“I think that I have a superb relationship with my players,” said Van Gaal.

“Maybe you have to consider how many players are coming to the manager to say something.

“In my career as a manger, I didn’t have so many players to come to the manager to say something about the atmosphere in the dressing room, or the way we train or something like that.

“So it’s very positive that players are coming to you, then you know they trust you.

“Rooney and Carrick, the captains, came to me and said ‘the dressing room is flat, we want to say that to you because we want to help you’.

“And then I’m a communicate and then I communicate not only with my captains, who tried to warn me, I go to the dressing room and talk to my players. I discussed a lot of aspects, what [they are] I cannot tell here [to you].

“But these aspects are not what you [the press] have written. I don’t know exactly who has written that because it was a ‘source’ like my friend [a journalist in the room] is saying ‘the fans are saying that’.

“Now the fans are shouting every week ‘Louis van Gaal’s army! Louis van Gaal’s army!’ so also the fans are very satisfied with Louis van Gaal. And my players are satisfied with me.”

Van Gaal also defended the fee paid by the Red Devils for teenager Anthony Martial after the teenager arrived on transfer deadline day.

The Old Trafford outfit could pay as much as €80 million for the France international, but the Van Gaal feels it is better to pay the fee now rather than see his value rise in 12 months time.

"The crazy world of football is that there is a market and a market price. We cannot have any influence on that price.

"I have said to Ed [Woodward], he is the best of his age, and we need a striker in the future.

"So we can wait a year and then he is £10m more expensive, but now we can build him up and at the right time he can enter the game."