The 21-year-old has netted 21 times in 28 games for PSV this term and the Manchester United boss says he had to work fast to stop him losing the player to PSG
Louis van Gaal has likened Memphis Depay to Lionel Messi by claiming that Manchester United have signed a “goalscoring winger”.
United completed a deal for the 21-year-old, reportedly worth around €27.5 million, on Thursday and the Netherlands international is set to be reunited with Van Gaal in the summer.
Depay has scored 21 goals in 28 appearances for PSV this season and Van Gaal revealed that United were forced to act quickly in order to fend off competition from Paris Saint-Germain.
“He’s a goalscoring winger and there aren’t so many of them in the world,” Van Gaal told MUTV.
“[Lionel] Messi is one of those but now I think we have to talk about the game against Crystal Palace and we have to focus on this and the coming three games. That’s more important.
“I was forced to handle [the situation] as a manager because, otherwise, he was going to PSG, that’s why I had to sign him and we’ve done it within one day. But, for us, it’s better to focus on the game against Palace.”
The United boss also reiterated his desire for United to complete their transfer business as soon as possible.
“I want to do this [complete signings] early but it’s not always possible,” said Van Gaal.
“When there’s a chance, to you have handle that and manage it directly and that was the case. I want to purchase players after our season and not during the season because it disturbs our concentration for the match.”