Louis van Gaal may not want to rake over his difficult relationship with Ronald Koeman ahead of Manchester United’s game at Southampton on Monday night, but he’s only too happy to lavish praise on his former player Graziano Pelle and compare him to Robin van Persie. Van Gaal signed Pelle – who has taken the Premier League by storm with 10 goals already this season - as a raw 21-year-old for AZ Alkmaar in 2007. Two years later, the 6ft4ins Italian striker was part of the LVG’s team that shocked traditional superpowers Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV to win the Dutch title.
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Louis van Gaal happy to lavish praise on his former player Graziano Pelle
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Pelle was signed by Van Gaal as a 21-year-old at AZ Alkmaar in 2007
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Italian forward compared to Robin van Persie by Louis van Gaal
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Manchester United travel south to face Southampton on Monday night
The pair have a notoriously frosty relationship dating back to their time at Ajax a decade ago when @placeholder was manager and van Gaal technical director.