Robert Lewandowski Photo: VCG

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has painted a picture of a very different vision of what he wanted to do at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman's time in the English Premier League will be remembered for some of the drabber fare in the post-Ferguson era, with a vision of football that appeared built on winning by controlling possession but without any end product.

"Philosophy" was mentioned at every turn, but whatever it was remained unclear. What was clear was it was at stark odds with the teams that had won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax and titles in Germany and Spain with Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively.

Even the AZ Alkmaar team that Van Gaal took to the Eredivisie title when he returned to his native Netherlands was renowned as free scoring while also being tight at the back - they had the second best goals for in the league in the 2008-09 season and the meanest defense.

Manchester United under the Dutchman was none of these things and two topsy-turvy seasons were brought to an end days after Van Gaal had guided his side to an FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace at Wembley. Jose Mourinho would come in to replace him but was it fair to single out Van Gaal?

In an interview with English football magazine FourFourTwo published this month, Van Gaal claims that he tried to bring in some of the best players in the world to work under him and deliver his "philosophy" for the Old Trafford faithful.

"I wanted Robert Lewandowski, but when this proved difficult I tried to get Gonzalo Higuain instead," Van Gaal told FourFourTwo. "Before I had arrived, I also spoke with the board about Neymar. If you are at United, you have to think big. He was also interesting for the club in terms of selling shirts, and I wanted to have quick wingers.

"For that reason, I also tried to get Sadio Mané and Riyad Mahrez. Thomas Muller was on my wish list, too, and in central midfield, I wanted N'Golo Kanté. I even tried to sign James Milner, who was already quite old but very multi-functional and possessed leadership skills.

"For the defense, I wanted Sergio Ramos and Mats Hummels, because ours wasn't the strongest in building from the back. Those were my top targets, but we couldn't get any of them. I don't know why, because as the manager I wasn't involved in any negotiations."

Every single one of these players has won a major trophy since, with Muller and Lewandowski winning the UFA Champions League last weekend thanks to Bayern Munich's 1-0 win over Paris St-Germain in Lisbon. Neymar was on the opposite side.

Mane and Milner won the same trophy last season with Liverpool, having reached the final the year before to lose to Ramos and Real Madrid, and they ended the 19-time champions of England's 30-year wait for a first domestic title in the Premier League era this season.

The rest all have glittering trophy cabinets, while United only won the FA Cup under Van Gaal and have added nothing since lifting the ­Europa League and League Cup in Mourinho's first season.

While none of his wanted world-class 11 were signed, Van Gaal did bring in 14 players to Manchester United - and few of them set the world alight, either before or since. Does that fault lie with Van Gaal, the club's executive chairman Ed Woodward, who has led recruitment, the managers that followed, or the players themselves? Perhaps it is fair to apportion the blame to each of those factors.

It is interesting that of those 14 few are still anywhere near the first team at Old Trafford under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Athony Martial has blossomed this season under the Norwegian, returning his career-best 23 goals across all competitions and looking like the No.9 that he has been trusted to be.

One of them was Van Gaal's former AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Sergio Romero, who has been an able understudy to David de Gea, especially in the cup competitions and probably deserved to keep his place for the later stages of the Europa League that ended with semifinal defeat to eventual winners Sevilla.

Luke Shaw, who has been injured since football returned from its coronavirus hiatus, is the other, and the vast majority have left the club.

Angel di Maria was the most high-profile signing and among the quickest to go back out the door. A robbery at his Cheshire home made it hard to settle and he left for PSG, who he took to the Champions League final alongside Neymar.

Radamel Falcao was another high-profile flop who was loaned out to Chelsea the following season, where he was worse than at United, before hitting form again in the principality. Daley Blind helped Ajax to last season's Champions League semis after going back home, former Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes went to Middlesbrough, and Bastian Schweinsteiger went to Chicago Fire.

Morgan Schniederlin was offloaded to Everton, Matteo Darmian went to Parma for peanuts, and the club will listen to offers for the livewire Argentine defender Marcos Rojo. Memphis Depay went to the Champions League semis with Lyon this season but United do have a buyback clause for the promising winger.

Would even those starry names that Van Gaal looks at as the ones that got away have done any better? The ones who failed included World Cup winners and finalists and Champions League winners, too. 

The Dutchman's legacy is  not all bad. He brought through as many academy and reserve team players as he signed and some have gone on to be rather good. 

Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira and Timothy Fosu-Mensah have all featured to various degrees this term, while Marcus Rashford has established himself as one of the finest young players in Europe.

His career best goal return and a connection with Martial have given fans hope and glimpses of the kind of football they had hoped to see under Van Gaal - albeit five years too late.